Egypt’s president holds talks with visiting Qatari emir

The visit showed the rapid improvement of ties between the two nations since the end of a boycott of Doha by four Arab states, including Egypt.

President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt held talks on Saturday with Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who visited Cairo for the first time in years.

The talks focused on ties between the two nations and a set of other regional and global topics, according to a brief statement from the Egyptian presidency. It did not provide further details.

Al Thani arrived at the Itihadiya presidential palace in Cairo for talks with el-Sissi. Both leaders inspected an honour guard and bands played the national anthems of Egypt and Qatar, a livestream of the welcoming ceremony posted by the Egyptian presidency showed.

Egypt’s state-run al-Ahram daily reported that the talks aim at ensuring the “full normalization” of ties between the two nations after resuming their relations early in 2021.

Citing an unnamed source, the newspaper said the two countries will sign agreements that would include Qatari investments in Egypt’s battered economy.

During the visit, an Egyptian-Qatari business council will meet with the aim of improving trade and investments between the countries. Qatar announced in March the investment of $5 billion in Egypt’s economy, which was hit badly by the repercussions of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Al Thani landed in Cairo late Friday and was received by el-Sissi at the airport.