The Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation – Dhaman has revealed that Egypt witnessed the establishment of 1,122 new foreign direct investment (FDI) projects, representing 8.3% of such projects in the region.
During the period between 2003 and 2020, Egypt saw 13,552 FDI projects, according to the FDI Markets database issued by the Financial Times.
In a report on Tuesday, the corporation said that Egypt ranked first as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment projects at an investment cost of $241bn, representing about 21% of the total investment cost of foreign projects in the region during the same period.
The report indicated that these projects provided about 304,000 new jobs, representing 16% of the total new jobs provided by foreign projects in the region, estimated at 1.9 million jobs during the period between 2003 and 2020.
The report stated that Egypt saw 43 new projects, representing 7% of the number of projects received by the region during the year 2020, with an investment cost estimated at $1.4bn, which provided more than 6,000 jobs, representing 11.3% of the Arab total during the year. Egypt received 19 projects, representing 17.3% of the Arab total. On the other hand, five Egyptian companies implemented six projects in Arab countries during the year 2020.
The Investment Climate Report in the Arab Countries for the year 2021 issued by the Foundation revealed that Egypt acquired 14.6% of the total cumulative foreign direct investment balances incoming to the Arab countries, with a value of $132.5bn by the end of 2020.
The corporation explained that Egypt, according to UNCTAD statistics, was the second largest recipient in the Arab countries for foreign direct investment, with flows amounting to $5.9bn, representing 14.5% of the total inflows to the region during 2020.
The data of the report issued by the Research and Country Risk Assessment Team at the Corporation indicated that Egypt has surpassed some of the major capital exporting countries in the region and ranked seventh with a value of foreign direct investment flows abroad amounting to $327m during the year 2020, and ranked eighth in the Arab world. Foreign direct investment balances were worth $8.5bn by the end of 2020.
With regard to Egypt’s position in the important international indicators closely related to the investment climate, the Investment Climate Report in the Arab Countries for the year 2021 indicated an improvement in Egypt’s ranking by five positions in the Business Performance Environment Index for the year 2020.
The report attributed this improvement to Egypt’s implementation of four basic reforms in the business environment, the most important of which is improving the work of the one-stop shop for investors, as well as facilitating the payment of taxes through applying an electronic system for filing and paying corporate income tax and value added tax.
The report also indicated that Egypt’s global ranking improved by three positions in the e-government index for the year 2020, and one position in the competitiveness index for the year 2019.
