Qatari minister opens Cairo hotel
Inauguration comes hours after key Saudi summit ended rift with Doha
Cairo: Qatari Finance Minister Ali Al Emadi Tuesday night attended the opening of a luxury Cairo Nile hotel, hours after Egypt signed a Gulf agreement ending a long dispute with Qatar.
Al Emadi joined his Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Maeti and US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin in inaugurating the $1.3 billion St Regis Cairo Hotel owned by the real estate investment company Qatari Diar.
“The State of Qatar with its investment through the Qatari Diar in this distinguished project practically stresses its commitment to contribute to supporting the tourism sector due to its vital role in economic development and creating job opportunities,” Al Emadi said at the opening ceremony, putting Qatar’s overall investment in Egypt at over $5 billion.
The new hotel provides around 440 new jobs, expected to reach 1,000, some 95 per cent of which will be done by Egyptians.
The Qatari official had arrived in Cairo on a private plane from Doha, flying across the Saudi airspace, according to media reports.
Saudi Arabia Monday reopened its land, sea and air borders with Qatar after more than three years of closure.
Leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council Tuesday gathered in the Saudi city of AlUla for an annual summit where they signed a solidarity declaration pledging to consolidate their grouping and ending a rift between Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt on the one hand and Qatar.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri attended the summit and signed the pact.