Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) will establish an EGP 2.5bn project in Egypt, according to Saleh Kamel, president of the Jeddah-based Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (ICCI) and the International Association of Islamic Banks, both of which are affiliated to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The project is expected to create 8 million job opportunities over 10 years and involves setting up a commodity exchange system and internal trade areas, a statement from the cabinet said. The joint venture between Egypt and Saudi Arabia comes in cooperation with Egypt's National Investment Bank and Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC). Kamel made this announcement during a Monday meeting with interim Prime Minister Ibrahim, which was also attended by Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Investment Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour and the head of FEDCOC. During the meeting, Mehleb stressed on the importance of economic cooperation between Egypt and associations run by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Saudi Arabia is currently preparing for the Egyptian-Gulf Investment Conference, scheduled to take place in Jeddah, and an exhibition to showcase Egyptian products, Kamel stated. Following the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in July, the kingdom provided Egypt with a $5bn aid package in the form of non-refundable grants, deposits and petroleum products. In February, former Prime Minister Hazem El-Beblawi flew to Saudi Arabia's Riyadh, where he discussed bilateral economic relations with first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud. As a part of the visit, members of the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council met to "determine potential investment opportunities and solve obstacles facing Saudi investors", the cabinet said. Hurdles facing Saudi investors since January 2011, related to annulling their projects' contracts, will be resolved after setting an "appropriate legislation for them", El-Beblawi announced in December. In a move to attract 200 Saudi investment companies, the Egyptian-Saudi Businessmen Association was inaugurated in January; it aims to register EGP 2bn Saudi investments in Egypt in 2014, a statement from the association said at the time.
