The step emphasizes on the bilateral solid relations between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and the people from all walks of life.

Apart from that, Egyptian cabinet statement said Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF) would invest additional funds in Egypt, but he gave few details.

Cooperation between the PIF and Egypt’s sovereign fund will involve measures to attract $10 billion in investments, the cabinet statement quoted Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly as saying. A package of projects would be announced as soon as possible, he said.

Saudi Arabia’s deposit also comes as part of the historical solid bonds and close cooperation relations between the Kingdom and Egypt, and as a gesture of confirmation of deep-rooted relations between the two nations and their people.

Erdogan turned his country from a financial, tourist and industrial center into a tottering state of which the currency is melting under the weight of the dollar.

The political and economic experiments of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and Turkish President Recep Erdogan deserve to be contemplated. The two states share certain similarities and characteristic features – both are overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and both are considered as a gateway to Europe: Turkey to Asia, and Egypt to Africa. Their populations are large in numbers. The professional working class in the two countries is skilled and diverse and they have an old economic structure with a rich legacy. The major difference is that the star of Egypt is rising politically and economically while the star of Turkey is at a low ebb.

Sisi began his experiment to build the second Egyptian Republic since 2013, and for two consecutive years he had been in the efforts of extinguishing the fires that the terrorist Brotherhood had set on the Egyptian fabric with the aim of liquidating and re-occupying Egypt through terrorism, bombings and bloodshed.

But the terrorists’ acts were not enough to deter Sisi from going ahead with his determination to fight the most difficult battle, which was undoubtedly the economic battle in a country that lacked stable resources but having only limited oil and gas reserves. He assumed office in a country featuring a crumbling infrastructure; rising migration of people to cities following their reluctance to live in the agricultural countryside; the erosion of the middle class; and a surge in the poverty rate, while the Suez Canal, which is the main source of hard currency, was barely functioning.

Sisi decided to float the Egyptian pound freely against the dollar. This is another story of ‘transit.’ There was only a possibility that Egypt could move from the bank of weakness to the bank of a strong state. It was a daring and risky decision, but it was the first path to economic salvage and transformation from a failed state to an economic tiger, and to proceed on a rugged path of reform that warranted major sacrifices, in a country that is well known for sacrifices to serve the national interests. Sisi and Egypt are ready to pay the bill for the return of Cairo to light up the East once again.

Sisi had not stopped at this point but rejuvenated the infrastructure, which all economists know is the fastest development path, the biggest employer for most companies and the greatest job generator.

In politics, Sisi moved to the safer zone where he safeguarded the Egyptian interests professionally and with surgical operations that were instrumental in opening roads in front of the Egyptian policy in Libya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Syria, and finally restoring the Egyptian role in the Palestinian file.

Erdogan, on the other hand, received a viable country for which the foundations were laid by his predecessors -Turgut Ozal, Suleyman Demirel and Ahmet Necdet, along with a popular desire that relied on broad ambitions from business sectors and manufacturers to join the European Union. This prompted the Turks to adopt the “Manifesto” of European success, which depends on the adoption of the administrative and legislative mechanism and the European quality system to have an access to the EU. This was undoubtedly the decision of the ruling class before him but it was Erdogan who reaped its fruits. However, this experiment was quickly subjected to liquidation, after it had been plagued since 2010 by Erdogan’s adventures and personal ambitions, and crazy romantic dreams to restore an empire that had ceased to exist and no more.

Erdogan had sent his armies and his mercenaries to northern Syria, Libya, Azerbaijan and Somalia. These were not free battles but they incurred huge bills, the price of which was paid by the Turkish people at the expense of their economy. Thus Erdogan turned his country from a financial, tourist and industrial center into a tottering state of which the currency is melting under the weight of the dollar, and that resulted in creating apathy on the part of investors and consequently there was a slump in the economy and tourism as well.

These are the two remarkable experiments, worthy of contemplation. How Sisi pulled his Egyptian state out of the clutches of terrorism, poverty and economic weakness, and how Erdogan squandered the gains of his country for which the Turks toiled for decades before he came to power.

Article first published on Saudi Gazette.

Dalia Ziada

Egyptian leadership will welcome the Qatari investments in its booming energy sector.

On December 13th, the oil giant “Royal Dutch Shell plc. (commonly known as Shell Company)” announced selling 17% of its project rights in oil and gas blocks in the Egyptian Red Sea, to Qatar Energy. After government approvals from both sides, this will be the first time ever Qatar make direct invests in the Egyptian oil sector. On one hand this indicates how strong the relationship between Egypt and Qatar has become, since the Gulf Reconciliation agreement in January. But most importantly, it refers to how strong the Egyptian economy, especially the energy sector, has become an attraction to giant oil investors from the Middle East region and beyond.

The Qatar Energy investments in the Egyptian Red Sea oil and gas explorations, will allow Qatar to acquire 17% stake in each of Block 3 and Block 4 operated by Shell Exploration & Production (93) B.V., which is a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc. Meanwhile, Shell, which owns 43% of Block 3 and 21% of Block 4, will remain the operator of both blocks. Another Gulf investor in the same project is the Emirati Mubadala Petroleum LLC., which owns 27% in Block 4. Besides, two Egyptian companies are investing in the project: BHP Petroleum (Egypt) Limited with 30% in Block 3 and 25% in Block 4, and the Egyptian Tharwa Petroleum S.A.E. with 10% in Block 3 and 10% in Block 4.

Shell sold the shares to Qatar Energy and the aforementioned investors based on a Farm Out Agreement (FOA), which is a type of contract which enables an existing project participant to add new parties to the project by selling a percentage stake in the venture. For the agreement to be put in effect, the Egyptian government and parliament must endorse the procedure. Given the positively developing relationship between Qatar and Egypt, it is highly likely that the Egyptian leadership will welcome the Qatari investments in its booming energy sector.

Since the signing of Al-Ula agreement, during the Gulf Summit, held in January, Egypt and Qatar have been determined to fix their torn relationship and build a fruitful cooperation, not only on fulfilling bilateral interests, but also on co-managing chronic regional troubles, such as the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Since the latest episode of war between Israel and Hamas, in May, Egypt and Qatar have been closely coordinating to reconstruct the Gaza strip and provide humanitarian aid to the Palestinians living there. This level of cooperation between Egypt and Qatar was an impossibility, only a few months ago.

Unlike what most people believe, this is the first time ever Qatar Energy directly invests in the Egyptian ascending economic power of oil and natural gas. In the past, all Qatar investments in Egypt’s energy sector were channeled through the Arab Refining Company (ARC), and limited to one project that started in 2012, under the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, and was not completed until in 2019. To further explain; ARC is owned by private shareholders, including the Egyptian Citadel (Qala’a) Holdings and some Arab Gulf investors. One of the giant Gulf investors in ARC was the Qatari state-owned company “Qatar Petroleum,” which changed its name later to “Qatar Energy.” It owns 38.1% of the ARC shares. The Arab Refining Company owns 66.6% in the Egyptian Refining Company, which is an Egyptian state-owned company. That is why there were cooperation between Qatar Petroleum and the Egyptian Refining Company, in the past. But, again, it was not a direct investment in the Egyptian energy sector and was limited to only one project, which is not as huge as the current investments Qatar is currently seeking to make in the Egyptian Red Sea.

In addition to Qatar, Egypt’s relationship with Turkey is taking a new positive turn as the two sides started to make a fruitful use of the Mediterranean wealth of natural gas. According to data published by S&P Global Platts Analytics, in the period between October and December, Egypt shipped to Turkey seven cargos of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), extracted from Idku and Demietta plants, at Egypt’s shores in the Mediterranean. This is the first time Egypt provides Turkey with such high volume of LNG exports, despite its contracts with Greece and Cyprus, within the EastMed Gas Organization. In the past, similar exports from Egypt to Turkey were only limited to mineral oils and plastics.

Qatar investments in the Egyptian energy sector and Turkey’s growing dependence on Egypt for natural gas supply are indicators on the increasing strength of the Egyptian economy. In a recent report, the International Monetary Fund expected that Egypt, in 2022, will be the second largest economy in Africa, after Nigeria, and the second largest economy in Arab countries, after Saudi Arabia, with a record GDP that exceeds US$438 billion.

Keeping healthy and balanced relations with all its neighbors in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Africa is the real secret behind Egypt’s economic success, despite the pandemic that brought even the most established economies on its knees. It would be interesting to watch how Egypt can balance its economic relations with the Qatar-Turkey axis, with its existing relationships with other Gulf and Mediterranean actors.

Article first published on The Levant News.