CAIRO: Egypt and Qatar signed three memomoranda of understanding, including one between the two nations’ sovereign wealth funds, the Egyptian presidency said on Wednesday during a two-day trip by Abdul Fattah Al Sissi to Doha.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Al Sissi “witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Qatar Investment Authority and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt for investment and development”, the emir’s office said on its official website.
They also signed an MoU on “cooperation in the field of ports” and another on “cooperation in the field of social affairs”, the website added.
Qatari and Egyptian ministers and other officials also attended the signing ceremony, the office said.
Al Sissi and the emir discussed ways of strengthening relations between the two countries, particularly in the fields of investment, transport and social affairs, the emir’s office said.
Al Sissi also met with business representatives on Wednesday, the official news agency QNA said.
Al Sissi’s trip to Qatar is his first since Cairo and Doha restored relations last year following a regional diplomatic rift. Qatar and Egypt have moved quickly to rebuild relations since, striking deals worth up to $5 billion.
Later, on Wednesday, Al Sissi was seen off at the airport by Sheikh Tamim, QNA said.
The emir visited Cairo in June, when Qatari investments in Egypt were on the agenda, as well as cooperation in the energy and agriculture sectors.
Cairo joined Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies, the UAE and Bahrain, in cutting ties with Doha in June 2017 over its support for the Muslim Brotherhood and alleged soft line on Iran.
Their blockade of Qatar was lifted in January 2021.
In late March, Cairo said Qatar planned to invest $5 billion in Egypt, while hydrocarbon giant QatarEnergy announced an agreement with US major ExxonMobil to acquire a 40-percent stake in a gas exploration block off Egypt in the Mediterranean.
