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Egypt Seeks to Launch Partnerships with Saudi Arabia in Productive Sectors

An Egyptian delegation, headed by the Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmad Samir, held a series of meetings with senior officials in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
An Egyptian delegation, headed by the Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmad Samir, held a series of meetings with senior officials in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt Seeks to Launch Partnerships with Saudi Arabia in Productive Sectors

An Egyptian delegation, headed by the Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmad Samir, held a series of meetings with senior officials in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
An Egyptian delegation, headed by the Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmad Samir, held a series of meetings with senior officials in Riyadh. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Ahmad Samir said his country is seeking to launch industrial partnerships with Saudi Arabia in a number of productive sectors with the aim of achieving industrial integration between Cairo and Riyadh, and strengthening joint cooperation frameworks.  

Samir emphasized the need to take advantage of the great potentials in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, mainly the specialized industrial cities, the availability of manpower, and production inputs, in order to secure the needs of the Egyptian and Saudi markets and promote exports to a large number of regional and global countries.  

The Egyptian minister concluded on Sunday an extensive visit to the Kingdom, where he met with a number of Saudi officials, including Minister of Industry and Mining Bandar AlKhorayef, Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Al-Qasabi, Mohammad Abdulaziz, acting governor of the Foreign Trade Authority, Abdul-Rahman bin Sulaiman, Chairman of the Saudi Export Development Authority, and others.  

In a press statement, Samir said he discussed with Saudi officials ways to improve bilateral trade and investment relations, benefit from the great economic potential in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and translate them into tangible cooperation projects.  

The minister emphasized the need to enhance joint efforts to facilitate intra-trade movement. He noted that trade exchange between Egypt and Saudi Arabia surged 41.3% year-on-year in 2021, reaching around $4.572 billion in 2021, compared to $3.236 billion in 2020.  

He also revealed that Saudi investments in Egypt amounted to $6.12 billion in 6,017 projects in the fields of manufacturing, construction, tourism, agriculture, services, finance, telecommunication, and information technology.  

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Aramco Plans Transition Minerals Joint Venture with Ma'aden

The proposed JV would focus on energy transition minerals, including extracting lithium from high-concentration deposits and advancing cost-effective direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies - File Photo
The proposed JV would focus on energy transition minerals, including extracting lithium from high-concentration deposits and advancing cost-effective direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies - File Photo
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Aramco Plans Transition Minerals Joint Venture with Ma'aden

The proposed JV would focus on energy transition minerals, including extracting lithium from high-concentration deposits and advancing cost-effective direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies - File Photo
The proposed JV would focus on energy transition minerals, including extracting lithium from high-concentration deposits and advancing cost-effective direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies - File Photo

Aramco, one of the world's leading integrated energy and chemicals companies, and Ma'aden, the largest multi-commodity mining and metals company in the Middle East and North Africa region, announced on Wednesday the signing of non-binding Heads of Terms, which envisages the formation of a minerals exploration and mining joint venture (JV) in Saudi Arabia.
According to a press release, the proposed JV would focus on energy transition minerals, including extracting lithium from high-concentration deposits and advancing cost-effective direct lithium extraction (DLE) technologies. Commercial lithium production is likely to commence by 2027.
This JV is expected to extend Aramco's capabilities into an adjacent sector, leveraging its technological innovation resource and data management skills. It would seek to unlock the potential of the Kingdom's high-value mineral resources, with the aim of helping meet the growing demand for lithium and other transition minerals both domestically and globally. The JV is expected to harness natural resources utilizing a wealth of subsurface data and emerging technologies to advance the Kingdom's economic diversification and energy ambitions, according to SPA.
The statements also added that there is significant potential for the extraction of energy transition minerals in the Kingdom. For example, Aramco has identified several areas with a high lithium concentration of up to 400 parts per million as part of its operations. The JV will benefit from Aramco's expertise and operations, including the use of existing infrastructure, industry-leading drilling operations, and more than 90 years of geological data in its area of operations.
Aramco Upstream President Nasir K. Al-Naimi said, "This announcement reflects Aramco's focus on positively contributing to the global energy transition. The proposed JV will enable the extraction of energy transition minerals, contributing to the growth of more sustainable energy solutions while diversifying our portfolio for a lower-carbon future. We expect that this partnership will leverage the world's leading upstream enterprise to apply significant low-cost advantages, industry experience, technological innovation, accumulated subsurface knowledge and an integrated supply chain ecosystem, with a view to meeting the Kingdom and potentially the world's projected lithium demand."
Ma'aden Senior Vice President of Exploration Darryl Clark stated, "Ma'aden has been undertaking one of the world's largest single-jurisdiction exploration programs across the Arabian Shield to unearth the estimated $2.5 trillion mineral endowment. This proposed JV would enable us to accelerate exploration of the Arabian Platform, combining Aramco's knowledge of the area with Ma'aden's mining and exploration expertise."
Lithium is a fundamental component of the energy transition, essential for production in fast-growing sectors such as electric vehicles, energy storage, and renewables. The global demand for lithium has tripled over the past five years, and its compound annual growth rate is anticipated to exceed 15% annually through 2035. The JV could help meet the Kingdom's forecasted demand for lithium, which is expected to grow twenty-fold between 2024 and 2030, supporting an estimated 500,000 electric vehicle batteries and 110 GW of renewables.
The planned JV, which is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals, was announced during the Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh.