Oman, Egypt Discuss Establishing $100 Mn Investment Fund

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry with the Omani Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said (ONA)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry with the Omani Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said (ONA)
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Oman, Egypt Discuss Establishing $100 Mn Investment Fund

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry with the Omani Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said (ONA)
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry with the Omani Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said (ONA)

Oman and Egypt signed several memoranda of understanding (MoUs) after a meeting held by the joint Business Council in Muscat.

The Egyptian-Omani Business Council concluded its meeting and recommended the two governments discuss the establishment of a $100 million fund to develop the investment exchange.

The Council also called for the completion of the legal aspects of the signed agreements to facilitate and promote trade exchange.

The Oman News Agency (ONA) said that the two countries signed several MoUs in the political, security, economic, commercial, industrial, judicial, developmental, educational, media, labor, and social fields.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with the Omani Deputy Prime Minister for Cabinet Affairs, Fahd bin Mahmoud al-Said, to discuss bilateral relations and take advantage of Egypt's development and economic boom.

Said and Shoukry participated in the meeting of the Omani-Egyptian Business Council at al-Bustan Palace.

Shoukry delivered a message to Sultan Haitham bin Tariq from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

The FM said that the private sector should help push the development in the two countries and support joint economic cooperation backed by both governments.

Shoukry urged the Omani private sector and businessmen to maximize their direct investments in Egypt and benefit from Cairo's giant development and economic projects.

He called for benefiting from the giant economic development projects implemented by the Egyptian state, which provide many and varied opportunities for investment in various fields, especially in light of recent achievements in terms of economic reform and improving the investment environment.

Shoukry hoped the Joint Business Council support government efforts to boost the development engine in both countries.

The Joint Egypt Omani committee issued a statement after its 15th session, noting that the Council stressed the importance of the distinguished historical relations between Oman and Egypt and the solid ties that bind their peoples.

The statement said that the two sides expressed their deep satisfaction with the high level of the relations, stressing the need to boost bilateral cooperation in all fields and open new horizons for collaboration.

The two delegations discussed regional and international issues of common interest and expressed their satisfaction with political coordination at various levels.

Speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Redha al-Saleh, said that the chambers of commerce want to take advantage of the opportunities in the two countries through exchanged visits between business delegations.

Saleh pointed out that the trade exchange between Muscat and Cairo reached over $293 million at the end of June 2021, with 744 Egyptian companies investing in Oman in 2020.



Report: Syrian Officials Plan to Attend IMF, World Bank Meetings in Washington

A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Report: Syrian Officials Plan to Attend IMF, World Bank Meetings in Washington

A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)
A view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, DC, US, November 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Syria's finance minister, foreign minister and central bank chief are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, DC this month, four sources familiar with the plans said.

It would be the first visit to the meetings by a high-level Syrian government delegation in at least two decades, and the first high-level visit by Syria's new authorities to the US since former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.

Two of the sources told Reuters it was unclear whether Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh and Central Bank Governor Abdelkader Husrieh had yet received visas to the United States.

Spokespeople for the IMF, World Bank, Syrian foreign ministry and Syrian presidency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The other two sources said a high-level meeting focused on reconstruction efforts for Syria could be held on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings.

Syria has been ravaged by nearly 14 years of a war that was sparked by a deadly crackdown on protests against Assad, with much of the country's infrastructure left in ruins.

The government that took over after Assad was ousted has sought to rebuild Syria's ties in the region and further afield, and to win support for reconstruction efforts.

But tough US sanctions imposed during Assad's rule remain in place. In January, the US issued a six-month exemption for some sanctions to encourage humanitarian aid, but this has had limited effect. Reuters reported in February that efforts to bring in foreign financing to pay public sector salaries had been hampered by uncertainty over whether this could breach US sanctions.

Last month the US gave Syria a list of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief but the administration of US President Donald Trump has otherwise engaged little with the country's new rulers.

That is in part due to differing views in Washington on how to approach Syria. Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership's former ties to Al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum, according to diplomats and US sources.