Mohammad Ahmad Tayeb, Director General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Makkah Region, right, speaks while Consul General Ali Al-Ashiry looks on during National Day celebrations on the premises of the Egyptian Consulate General in Jeddah on Wednesday night. — SG photo Samar Yahya Saudi Gazette JEDDAH – The Egyptian Consulate General hosted a reception to mark the occasion of the country's National Day on Wednesday. July 23 marks the anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that led to the abdication of King Farouk and the establishment of the modern republic. Consul generals and ambassadors of several countries and many prominent Saudi figures attended the event on the consulate's premises in the city's Al-Rawdah district. Consul General Ali Al-Ashiry and his wife received guests. In a speech, Al-Ashiry spoke about last year's January 25th Revolution the led to the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak and its role in enabling people to choose their president freely. Al-Ashiry also said for the first time in Egypt's history, Egyptians living abroad were given an opportunity to be part of the electoral process and cast their votes while living abroad. He went on to talk about the longstanding strong ties enjoyed between Egypt and the Kingdom, the two pillars of stability in the region. Al-Ashiry said Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's latest visit to the Kingdom, his first foreign trip as president, and the warm welcome and fruitful talks with King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, and Crown Prince Salman, Deputy Premier and Minister of Defense, confirmed the two countries' strong relationship. Al-Ashiry said that Saudi Arabia was the first country to send aid to Egypt after the revolution and noted that bilateral trade increased from $3.8 billion in 2010 to $4.7 in 2011 and exports to the Kingdom increased by 25 percent after the revolution. Saudi-Egyptian joint ventures in the Kingdom are valued at $2.5 billion. Mohammad Ahmad Tayeb, Director General of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Makkah Region, also spoke at the event and expressed his content and pride to be at the celebration. Tayeb also lauded the strong relations enjoyed between the two countries. Since late 2011, the Egyptian consulate has played a great role during the parliamentary and presidential elections. Over 102,703 electorates registered at the Jeddah polling station and 162,000 in Riyadh during the country's first presidential elections in the post-Mubarak era. Three groups comprising of representatives of candidates, civil communities and media representatives were approved by the electoral commission in Egypt to oversee the vote-counting process in the Kingdom.
