On the sidelines of the China-Arab Summit that was held in the Saudi capital, the Egyptian president discussed with the Saudi Crown Prince how to promote economic and investment integration between Cairo and Riyadh.

According to the Egyptian presidency, El-Sisi stressed the importance of continuing periodic and intensive consultation and coordination with Saudi Arabia on issues of common concern at the highest level, in a way that reflects the two countries’ commitment to strengthening their deeply-rooted strategic ties and enhancing Arab and Islamic unity in the face of enormous challenges.

The Egyptian President also hailed the bilateral talks, which come at a delicate time with many successive regional and international developments.

For his part, the Saudi crown prince lauded the distinguished relations that bind the two brotherly countries.

He asserted Saudi Arabia's keenness to support bilateral cooperation frameworks with Egypt at various levels.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have shared warm relations in various political, economic, security and investment fields and have maintained continuous coordination on regional issues of concern.

In June, Egypt and Saudi Arabia signed 14 investment agreements worth $7.7 billion.

The volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached about SAR 54 billion ($14.4 billion) in 2021 — the highest in history — achieving a growth of 87 percent compared to 2020, according to a recent report issued by the Federation of Saudi Chambers.

Moreover, the volume of Saudi exports to the Egyptian market reached SAR 38.6 billion ($10.8 billion), and Egyptian imports to the Saudi market reached SAR 15.7 billion ($4.18 billion) — a record growth of 60 percent.

Furthermore, the volume of Saudi investments in Egypt amounts to more than $32 billion through more than 6,800 Saudi companies, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

During the current global crisis sparked by the Russia-Ukraine war, Saudi Arabia deposited $5 billion in the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), and the country is expected to invest even more.

Prior to the war, Saudi Arabia had deposited $3 billion in the CBE and extended the maturity of other deposits worth $2.3 billion which will now be paid in October 2026.

President El-Sisi held bilateral meetings with leaders attending the first China-Arab Summit since his arrival in Riyadh on Thursday, including Tunisia, Sudan, Iraq and China.