CAIRO, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is planning to increase its investments in Egypt and convert its deposits in Egypt into investments, said Saudi Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Faleh here on Thursday.
Al-Faleh, who led a Saudi delegation visiting Cairo, made the remarks during a meeting with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, where they discussed the investment opportunities in Egypt and ways to boost joint investments between the two countries, said the Egyptian cabinet in a statement.
The Saudi minister said he will work with Egyptian officials on "doubling" Saudi investments in Egypt, describing Saudi Arabia as the biggest investor in Egypt, according to the statement.
Saudi Arabia sees Egypt as "a promising market" and "an important platform for exporting to countries of the region," Al-Faleh said.
For his part, Madbouly stressed that the "cooperation to increase joint investments is a priority for both countries."
The two sides are "keen to push bilateral relations in all fields to greater levels," Madbouly said, noting that his government has solved 70 percent of the problems of Saudi investors in Egypt.
The Saudi delegation included PIF representative Muteb Al-Shathri, who pointed out that the fund's companies have investments in Egypt worth about 3 billion U.S. dollars, praising the existing cooperation between the PIF and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt.
Egypt and Saudi Arabia have close economic cooperation, and Saudi investments in Egypt reached 32 billion U.S. dollars as of September 2023, according to Egyptian official reports. ■