Saudi King Salman bin Abdel Aziz opened the 31st session of the Jenadriyah culture and heritage festival on Wednesday which was attended by Egyptian Culture Minister Helmy al-Namnam.
During his tour on Wednesday, Salman expressed his admiration of the Egyptian pavilion, saying: “Egypt has come back [and restored its cultural significance].”
As guest of honor, Egypt is participating with a program in the session.
The king started his tour by opening the Egyptian pavilion at the festival accompanied by Egyptian ambassador to Riyadh Naser Hamad, head of the minister’s office Major General Hassan Khallaf, head of the General Organization for Cultural Palaces Sayed Khattab, and head of the Cultural Development Fund Ahmed Awad. Also in attendance were senior Saudi statesmen, and officials and leaders from the Egyptian Culture Ministry and the Tourism Promotion Authority.
Relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been strained since Egypt voted for two UN Security Council bills on Syria. After that, the kingdom suspended oil supplies from Aramco, a company headed by crown prince Mohammad bin Salman, to Egypt for three months without stating clear reasons.
Saudi Arabia suspended also all memoranda of understanding and agreements signed with President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi during Salman's visit to Cairo in April. The suspended MoUs were in the fields of commerce, industry and anti-corruption.
However, there have recently been indicators that relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia are witnessing a slight improvement since al-Sisi issued a decree few days ago approving an MoU with the Saudi Fund for Development for US$1.5 billion to finance the Sinai Peninsula development project.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
