Saudi Arabia's King Salman to visit Egypt in April

Ahram Online , Thursday 11 Feb 2016

This will will be the second visit by the Saudi royal to Egypt since he rose the kingdom's throne in 2015

King Salman
King Salman (Photo: Al Ahram)

Saudi Arabia's King Salman Bin Abdel-Aziz will visit Egypt on 4 April, the Saudi ambassador Ahmed Al-Qattan said in a statement on Thursday.

"The visit aims at boosting bilateral relations between the two countries in different sectors," Al-Qattan said.

 King Salman, who took power in January 2015, visited Egypt in March 2015 for the Arab League summit in Egypt's southern Sinai city of Sharm El-Sheikh.

Since the ouster of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, Saudi Arabia has supported Egypt diplomatically and economically with billions of dollars in aid, oil grants, and cash deposits to help buoy the country's economy after several years of political upheaval sent foreign reserves tumbling.

In December 2015, King Salman ordered that Saudi investments in Egypt worth 30 billion riyals ($8 billion). The King also promised aid o help Cairo cover parts of its oil needs for five years and said Riyadh would increase its ship traffic in the Suez Canal to bolster revenues.

The king's order came following Cairo's announcement that Egypt would join the Saudi-led Islamic “anti-terrorism” military coalition that includes 34 states including Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Malaysia and Pakistan.

Since March 2015, Egyptian naval and air forces have been participating in the Saudi-led military operation in Yemen against Iranian-backed Houthi fighters.

Earlier in January 2016, Egypt's National DefenCe Council agreed to extend the deployment of Egyptian Armed Forces units in the Gulf area, the Red Sea and the Bab Al-Mandab strait for an additional year, or until the end of their mission.

In July 2015, Egypt and Saudi Arabia issued the "Cairo Declaration," outlining six facets of cooperation between the two countries including the development of military cooperation and working towards establishing an Joint Arab Force, and boosting Saudi investment in the fields of energy, electricity and transportation in Egypt.

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