Qatar intends to invest $ 7.5 billion in Egypt, the two countries said today in a joint announcement at the end of Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al -Sisi’s visit to the rich gulf emperor due to natural gas deposits.

“The two countries emphasized the importance of enhancing economic cooperation … and agreed to work for a package of immediate investment of Qatar totaling $ 7.5 billion to grow during the next phase,” the Qatar’s official media reported the announcement.

The Egyptian president met Emir of Qatar, Tamim Ben Hamad al -Thani, on Sunday and Monday in Doha.

This economic commitment “reflects the stability of relations between the two countries and contributes to the implementation of a sustainable economic development,” the statement said.

The small gulf country is one of the largest producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) worldwide, along with the US, Australia and Russia.

Egypt, the most crowded Arab country, comes out of the worst economic crisis in its history, but remains burdened with an external debt growing rapidly.

The war in Gaza exacerbated its financial problems and the attacks by Houtha against navigation on Yemeni have hit the Suez Canal, one of the main sources of foreign foreign exchange in Egypt.

Doha and Cairo, playing with the US the role of mediator between Israel and Palestinian Hamas, also talked about the “central position of the Palestinian issue” in the Arab world, according to the official Qatar news agency, QNA.

They asked Cairo to be held at the International Conference on the rebuilding of the Palestinian territory, destroyed by more than 18 months of war, which broke out after Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

“We will continue our joint efforts to support our brothers in the Gaza Strip and occupied Palestine, with the aim of achieving sustainable security and peace,” Qatar’s Emir wrote in a message posted on the X platform after the meeting.

The Egyptian Presidency said, for its part, that the two leaders discussed “efforts to achieve a truce in the Gaza Strip and the treatment of the worsening of the humanitarian situation” on Palestinian territory.