Cairo: Saudi King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz arrived in Egypt on Thursday for a high-profile visit focusing on boosting ties between the two Arab allies and tackling regional turbulence.
Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi welcomed the Saudi monarch at Cairo airport at a ceremony broadcast live on state television.
Later on Thursday, the two leaders met in the Ittihadiya presidential palace in eastern Cairo where they reviewed a presidential guard of honour.
Prior to the Saudi king’s arrival in Cairo, Al Sissi said in a tweet: “I welcome my brother His Majesty King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, the Custodian of the two Holy Mosques, in the land of his second country Egypt.”
The five-day visit is King Salman’s first to Egypt since he ascended to the throne in January 2015.
Al Sissi has since visited Saudi Arabia several times, the latest being last month when he attended the conclusion of the massive military drills “Northern Thunder”.
A presidential statement lauded King Salman’s visit, saying it “reflects the special ties” between the two countries.
“The timing of the visit coincides with big challenges facing the area … emphasising the importance of ongoing intense cooperation and coordination between the two countries on different regional files,” the statement said.
Egypt is a partner to a Saudi-led military coalition that has since March 2015 been carrying out air strikes in Yemen against rebels backed by Iran.
Egypt has also joined an anti-terror Islamic coalition unveiled by Saudi Arabia late last year.
During his trip to Egypt, the Saudi leader will visit the parliament on Sunday where he is expected to deliver a speech.
King Salman and Al Sissi will launch a university named after the Saudi monarch in South Sinai.
The two leaders will also attend the signing of more than 20 pacts aimed at bolstering cooperation in the fields of energy, oil, investment, tourism, housing and manpower.
The accords include a $1.5 billion (Dh1.84 billion) Saudi programme to develop Egypt’s Sinai, a hotbed of insurgency in recent years.
“The investment agreements, which will be signed with Egypt on Saturday, will have figures that will come as a good surprise for everyone,” Saudi Ambassador in Cairo Ahmad Qatan said in a tweet without elaborating.
The Egyptian government has described as historic King Salman’s visit that received front-page treatment in state-run and private newspapers.
State-run newspaper Al Ahram called the Al Sissi-Salman talks the “summit of cooperation and challenges”. Meanwhile, private newspaper Al Masry Al Youm carried a headline declaring: “Salman’s gift: 20 billion pounds [Dh189 billion) worth of investments.”
Last December, the Saudi monarch ordered an increase of his country’s investments in business-hungry Egypt to reach $8 billion. At the time, he also ordered covering Egypt’s needs of oil products for five years.
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have pumped billions of dollars into Egypt’s ailing economy since the army’s mid-2013 toppling of president Mohammad Mursi, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.
