President Abdel Fattah El Sisi held talks yesterday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who landed in Cairo on Monday, according a statement from Ittihadiya. The two discussed collaboration on investment, economic, and national security issues as well as regional diplomacy.

Reports of the USD 5 bn King Salman Causeway made the press: Construction work on the King Salman Causeway, the bridge linking Saudi Arabia and Egypt via Aqaba Bay, will begin before 2020, according to reports picked up by Gulf News and Construction Week Online. Cost projections now stand at USD 4-5 bn, from the estimated USD 3-4 bn we had reported back in a 2016 issue when the project was announced. The bridge’s main 7 km artery will take 5-7 years to complete.

Jusoor Company to be shuttered: The EGP 6 bn Jusoor Company, the holding company founded in 2014 by former Egyptian-Saudi Business Council head Sheikh Saleh Kamel to provide seed money and invest in the Suez Canal, will be liquidated, current council head Abdullah bin Mahfouz said. The company proved of little economic use and its capital will be used to establish 30 small-sized companies to invest in opportunities surrounding the canal, he said.

In other news out of the visit:

• The two sides formed a committee to discuss ways of cutting barriers to investment. (Al Masry Al Youm);
• Four other committees will look into opportunities in manufacturing, agriculture, tourism and contracting, as well as reconstruction projects in Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Syria, Egyptian-Saudi Business Council chairman Abdel Hamid Abu Moussa said.
• Cooperation on SMEs will be the order of the day when the board of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce meets on 18-19 December with its Saudi counterpart in Aswan, Federation head Ahmed El Wakeel said.
• The federations will also look at manufacturing, construction, infrastructure, and agricultural projects across Africa, El Wakeel added, according to Al Masry Al Youm.