RIYADH: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives on Monday in Saudi Arabia during a three-country Gulf tour as he looks to attract foreign investment in his country’s ailing economy.

Erdogan is scheduled to land in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to meet King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country’s de facto ruler, before going to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar later this week.

“During our visits, our primary agenda will be joint investment and commercial activities with these countries in the upcoming period,” Erdogan said before leaving Istanbul.

He said bilateral trade with Gulf countries has increased from $1.6 billion to approximately $22 billion over the past 20 years.

“With the business forums to be organised, we will look for ways to move this figure much further,” Erdogan said.

The visit is his second to Saudi Arabia since a recent rapprochement. Ties between the two countries were strained by the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate. Turkey angered Saudi Arabia by vigorously pursuing the case at the time, opening an investigation and briefing international media on the gory details of the killing.

But with ties on the mend, Erdogan visited Saudi Arabia in April 2022, and Prince Mohammed went to Turkey in June last year.