Prime Minister Adil Abd Al-Mahdi arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday on his first visit to Saudi Arabia since taking office in October, accompanied by a high-level delegation of ministers and business leaders.

The Prime Minister held formal talks with HM King Salman bin Abdulaziz on bilateral cooperation and regional security.

The Prime Minister hailed the strong historical ties between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, saying that there is a shared determination to elevate the relationship between the two countries, and to deepen cooperation in the political, security and economic fields.

The two leaders later oversaw the signing of 13 bilateral agreements and MoUs covering a wide range of areas including political, energy and cultural cooperation as well as the promotion and protection of investment.

The Prime Minister also held talks with the Crown Prince and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, and discussed enhancing coordination between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in several areas.

During the talks, Prime Minister Abd Al-Mahdi said strengthening Iraqi-Saudi relations was important not just for the two countries, but for the whole region as it will help promote greater stability and advance the economic well-being of all in the region.

The Prime Minister later visited the National Museum of Saudi Arabia and opened the ‘Cities Destroyed by Terrorism’ exhibition which is being held to document the destruction by Daesh of great cities like Mosul, Aleppo and Palmyra.