(Photo Yehia Hamid handout)
All investment disputes faced by Arab businessmen, particularly Saudis, will end “by Sunday evening in their entirety,” said Investment Minister Yehia Hamed said on Sunday.
“The public prosecutor recently presented a number of legal documents to Saudi investors operating on Egypt’s stock exchange explaining that problems being faced were purely administrative,” said Hamed. The prosecutor had issued specific instructions to address complaints put forth by Fayez Zagzoug, according to information released by the Okaz news outlet.
Hamed’s statements came ahead of a conference on the future of Arab investment to take place on Tuesday, hosted by Prime Minister Hesham Qandil, under the auspices of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB). The conference will be attended by the ministers of investment, petroleum and foreign trade, in addition to 25 Saudi Arabian investors.
Meanwhile, and according to a statement sent by the Saudi Arabian embassy, the Kingdom’s Ambassador to Cairo HE Ahmed bin Abdul-Aziz Kattan, accompanied by a delegation of Saudi investors, recently held a series of meetings with Egyptian officials, including Minister of Interior Mohamed Ibrahim, Prosecutor General Talaat Abdullah, and Cairo Governor Osama Kamel. Those in attendance sought to discuss during these meetings ways to best address problems faced by Saudi investors.
Kattan stated that he would continue to remain in contact with Egyptian authorities until all problems facing Saudi investors were settled and resolved. He acknowledged that a number of these issues had already been addressed, stating that he hoped the rest could be solved as quickly as possible.
The conference sought to discuss promising new investment opportunities available throughout Egypt, in addition to making businessmen aware of new incentives and advantages put forth by the country’s minister of investment. “Problems faced by the El Naser Housing and Construction Company, which is 50% owned by Saudi investors, particularly with regards to the production of aluminium, have recently been addressed and resolved, adding it to the list of Saudi Arabian companies who have recently settled their disputes with the Egyptian government,” Hamed said. “34% of the company is now owned by Fayyaz Gamil, with Ahmed Gamil owning the remaining 16%. These disputes were resolved after the former presented and put forth official proofs of ownership of the company, upon request by the public prosecutor.”
Problems faced by Saudi investor Abdullah Kaki with regards to the Al-Nubaria sugar company’s “Nuba Seed” production project were also recently addressed and resolved after Egypt’s agriculture minister agreed to the transfer of ownership of the project to Kaki, a process set to begin next week.
Land ownership disputes with regards to the Hurghada Sheraton, jointly owned by the Arab Investment Company and the Egyptian Petrochemicals Company, were also recently settled, as were those regarding the “Arab Mall” development project located in 6th of October City. Ongoing disputes between Saudi investor Naser Al-Qazazi and the Egyptian government were also reportedly settled and resolved.
Translated from Al-Borsa Newspaper
