Mayiik Ayii, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan signed the deal in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh on Monday - January 24, 2022 - Courtesy

South Sudan has signed a cooperation agreement on investment with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mayiik Ayii Deng revealed this after inking the deal in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh on Monday.

Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan signed on behalf of the Kingdom’s government.

The investment areas agreed upon include the industrial sector, the petroleum sector, mineral exploration and agriculture activities as well as tourism, sports and the health sector.

Deng says the deal will be followed by investment promotion activities including a conduct of trade fairs and exhibitions in South Sudan.

“This cooperation agreement between the Kingdom and the Republic of South Sudan will now allow us to engage fully with a lot of institutions, especially the economic sector here in Saudi Arabia,” Deng told the media in Riyadh on Monday.

“They want to come and invest in the Republic of South Sudan especially in the field of agriculture, infrastructure and so on.

Minister Deng and his delegation are currently holding talks with relevant institutions in Riyadh on the signed deal.

“In the next couple of days, we are going to be meeting with these agencies and ministries and you will hear what they would like to do,” he said.

“Absence of this agreement was preventing them [Saudi Arabia] from entering the South Sudan market. The minister told me that they are very interested in investing in South Sudan in all areas, agriculture, technology and education.”