Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is to visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, his maiden trip abroad since becoming the country's first freely elected leader, Egyptian media reported.
The visit is expected to include talks between Morsi and King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz as well as senior Saudi officials, DPA reported.
"Having Saudi Arabia as the first country to be visited by President Morsi since taking office reflects his high regard for the kingdom," Saudi ambassador in Cairo Ahmed Kattan told the state-run newspaper Al Ahram following a meeting with the Egyptian leader on Saturday.
Morsi, an engineering professor, was last month elected as Egypt's first civilian and Islamist president since the monarchy was toppled in the country 60 years ago.
Egyptian-Saudi ties experienced their worst crisis in decades in May, when the oil-rich kingdom recalled its envoy following protests in front of its embassy in Cairo against the Saudi authorities' detention of an Egyptian man on suspicion of smuggling drugs.
The crisis was soon defused and the envoy returned to Cairo after an Egyptian delegation led by the speaker of the now-disbanded parliament met with King Abdullah.
An estimated 1.5 million Egyptians are working in Saudi Arabia.
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