Egypt, Saudi agree to set up $16 billion investment fund

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al Sisi arrive for a signing ceremony for bilateral agreements at the Abdeen Palace in Cairo.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, and Egyptian President Abdel Fatah Al Sisi agreed to set up a $16 billion investment fund on Saturday and settled a long-standing maritime dispute as the Saudi ruler continued his rare visit to the country.
King Salman called for a joint fight against "terrorism" in the Middle East.
The other mission that we should work on together is the fight against extremism and the fight against terrorism," King Salman said in an address to the Egyptian parliament broadcast live on state television.
A day after King Salman announced a plan to build a bridge over the Red Sea to Egypt, the heads of state met at the historic Abdeen Palace in Cairo to oversee the inking of a string of agreements Egypt hopes will help boost its battered economy.
In one of the most high-profile announcements, Cairo said it had agreed to demarcate its maritime borders with Saudi Arabia, officially placing two islands in the Straits of Tiran in Saudi territory.
The 80-year-old Saudi King's visit to Egypt has been seen as a clear show of support for Sisi, the former military chief who toppled his predecessor Mohammed Mursi in 2013. Since touching down on Thursday, King Salman and his delegation have announced a slew of investments in Egypt.
A live Egyptian state television broadcast on Saturday showed an official announcing the latest agreements, signed by a representative of each country. The two nations agreed "to set up a Saudi-Egyptian investment fund with a capital of 60 billion Saudi riyals ($16 billion)," the announcer said, giving no further details. More than a dozen other accords, including a memorandum of understanding to set up an industrial zone in Egypt, were also announced.
Tiran had historically been a Saudi island 'leased' to Egypt in 1950. Earlier on Saturday, King Salman paid a visit to the prestigious Al Azhar mosque.
He was due to address parliament later and receive an honorary doctorate from Cairo University on Monday.
An Egyptian government official had said the deals agreed with Saudi Arabia, excluding the investment fund, would amount to $1.7 billion.
"This visit comes as a confirmation of the pledges of brotherhood and solidarity before the two brotherly countries," Sisi said in a televised speech.