Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly set off a heated debate after his spontaneous apology to Saudi Arabia for transferring Egypt's bureaucratic structure to the wealthy Gulf nation, pinning it on "British occupation."
"My dear brother, [investment minister] Majid Al-Qasabi, who loves Egypt, has always said that Egypt was the one conveying bureaucracy to Saudi Arabia….at some point," Madoubly said on Monday, addressing a public gathering of joint Saudi and Egyptian businessmen and government officials in the kingdom's capital, Riyadh.
"I told him that we have ourselves been impacted by British imperialism that occupied Egypt for [nearly] 70 years. It was out of our hands… and we apologise for transferring it to you," the premier said, smiling.
"Currently, our goal is to overstep any bureaucratic measures [impeding business deals] through reforms that we have introduced to investment laws as well as incentives and exemptions that boost investments in all sectors," Madbouly added.
However, many Egyptians viewed Madbouly's statements as a means to appease the Saudis, and, in turn, attract direct investments amid an unforgiving economic crisis, while undermining Egypt strategically, politically, and influentially.
One Egyptian man, Shawky Mohamed Shawky, slammed the move on the social media platform X, wondering why Madbouly apologised to Saudi Arabia when Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman praised Egypt's role in the kingdom's development.
"Where are you from, Madbouly?" Shawky asked rhetorically.
Prominent political sociologist Dr Said Saadek believes Madbouy's apology may have been intentional, though.
"Slow Saudi investments were meant to be blamed on bureaucracy, used just as an excuse. The fact that Egypt has more Emirati investments than Saudi ones may have strained relations with Saudi Arabia, for the two countries are regional rivals," Sadek argued.
"Egypt could be indecisive in responding to Saudi requests for investment. We need to consider the [reportedly] unfinalised Red Sea Ras Gamila deal that made news headlines earlier this year," Sadek told The New Arab.
The Egyptian cabinet declared in a statement that bin Salman agreed with Madbouly to invest $US 5 billion to be carried out by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) as an initial phase, without elaborating further.
The Egyptian premier paid a two-day official visit to the kingdom, leading a delegation of senior officials and businessmen that began on Sunday.