Cairo, June 14, 2021, SPA -- The Saudi-Egyptian Joint Committee in Cairo held today its 17th session, co-chaired by Saudi Minister of Commerce and Acting Minister of Media Dr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qassabi and Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Neveen Gamea in the presence of government officials representing various sectors in the two countries. During his speech at the inauguration ceremony, Dr. Al-Qassabi conveyed the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, commending deep-rooted relations between the two countries that are based on the bonds of religions, fraternity, dialogue, history and joint interests of both countries. Minister Dr. Al-Qassabi said that the committee is an extension of the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of the Arab Republic of Egypt, on the importance of joint action to further enhance brotherly ties, boost cooperation, and move to a higher level, noting that the Saudi-Egyptian Joint Committee is one of the active committees between the two countries that has been held annually, except in 2020 due to the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. He also expressed aspiration for these meetings to enhance trade between the two countries, where the total trade volume in 2020 amounted to USD8 billion, down by 15 percent when compared to 2019 due to the repercussions of the pandemic on global economies, reiterating that what matters now is to enhance the post-pandemic bilateral cooperation to boost economic cooperation and benefit from opportunities generated from the pandemic, as well as protecting investments in the two countries. Dr. Al-Qassabi also expressed appreciation to Gamea and members of the technical teams for their efforts and their keenness to discuss all that can enhance cooperation between the two countries in all fields in a bid to push forward this cooperation until reaching fruitful outcomes to serve joint interests. The Minister demonstrated this with the outcomes of the two sides’ meetings over the past few days and what they agreed upon of recommendations and actions that concern both countries in all cooperation fields, hoping to succeed and achieve all goals that meet the aspirations and ambitions of the two countries and peoples. For her part, Gamea said that Egyptian-Saudi relations need no introduction, where our ties reflect fraternity, friendship and joint support in all fields, noting that these relations are considered a successful model to be followed in cooperation among brotherly countries due to the fact that is based on equality and joint interests. She said that, “This reflected on efforts of continuous coordination between the two countries in a positive way, which can be seen through the commercial exchange that is witnessing steady growth and increase year after year with a value that exceeded USD5.5 in 2020. At the conclusion of the meeting, Dr. Al-Qassabi and Gamea signed the proceedings of the session of the joint committee and what it included of items and recommendations that are envisioned to further boost joint action between the Kingdom of Saudi and Arab Republic of Egypt. --SPA 16:13 LOCAL TIME 13:13 GMT 0020 www.spa.gov.sa/w1571561