Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri on Sunday held talks with Saudi Ambassador in Cairo Ahmed Abdel-Aziz Qattan which involved the economic, trade and investment sectors. On its website, state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper said the talks touched on the latest developments concerning the US$3 billion in aid that Saudi Arabia had promised to send to Egypt. Meanwhile, state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA) published a statement made by Qattan following the talks in which he said the two discussed aspects of cooperation between the two countries that would help confront the current economic crisis in Egypt. Qattan said that back in June, Saudi Arabia was the first Arab state to announce its support of Egypt through the funding offered by King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz. He said the Ministry of Finance and International Cooperation are working on the economic support program. Qattan stressed the importance of creating close ties between the two countries and the important role Egypt plays in the Arab world. In a press conference on Thursday, Ganzouri said that Egypt had only received a minimal amount of the aid promised by a number of Arab and foreign countries. He explained that Egypt only received US$1 billion out of the more than US$10 billion promised in the wake of the 25 January revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
