Cairo - Mubasher: Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi discussed with Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef and his accompanying delegation, at the ministry's headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, ways to enhance joint cooperation, especially in the mineral resources sector.

At the beginning of the meeting, Karim Badawi stressed that the relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia is a historical and long-standing relationship, and we look forward to increasing cooperation between the two countries, especially in the fields of mining, and benefiting from Saudi expertise and successful experiences in these fields, whether in incentive packages or the technologies and techniques used, especially since there is a geologically similar extension between the two countries separated by the Red Sea.

Badawi reviewed the main axes of the ministry's current work strategy, which include a special axis to achieve a qualitative shift in the mineral wealth sector to increase its contribution to the gross domestic product from 1% currently to between 5-6%, as well as the sector's efforts to transform the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority into an economic authority, in addition to the axis related to occupational safety and health, sustainability, environment and energy rationalization, and working to restructure the energy mix in Egypt to increase the percentage of renewable energy to 42% in the energy mix by 2030.

In this regard, the Minister referred to the Sukari Gold Mine’s experience in using renewable energy in operations, stressing the importance of integrated work and regional cooperation in both petroleum and mining activities.

For his part, Saudi Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Alkhorayef praised the distinguished relations between the two countries at the leadership and popular levels, stressing the importance of cooperation between the two countries to achieve successes that serve the peoples of both countries.

He reviewed the Saudi experience in mining investment, thanking the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for being a key partner in the success of the Third International Mining Conference “The Future of Mining”, which achieved gains in the region and not just for Saudi Arabia, welcoming the participation of Engineer Karim Badawi in the Fourth International Mining Conference hosted by Riyadh during the period from January 14 to 16, 2025, which is an opportunity to highlight the investment opportunities enjoyed by the Egyptian mining sector before global mining companies.

In this regard, Karim Badawi stressed that Egypt does not hesitate to provide the necessary support and that Egypt will have an important role in the success of this conference, which is considered one of the most important mining conferences in the world.

The two ministers stressed the importance of activating the provisions of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries last January, in a way that supports the capabilities, advisory, scientific, technical and advanced technologies that provide solutions to accelerate the development of this vital sector in the two countries.

The two ministers also stressed the importance of joint work to explore the opportunities available to exploit mineral resources in both countries to establish complementary industries that achieve added value from these resources.