IDSC report says Egypt top world attraction in terms of investment

CAIRO - 28 November 2021:  The Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) Sunday unveiled a comprehensive strategy to improve the investment climate in Egypt.

It is a plan meant to create an investment-friendly climate that encourages businessmen to expand their activities and production in light of economic and structural reforms conducted in the country.

A report by the IDSC said that many investment opportunities are up for grabs by foreign investors, who will also benefit from incentives offered by Egypt.

The report shed light on optimistic international forecasts for Egypt, thanks to its economic reform program that helped the national economy through the coronavirus crisis.

Egypt is one of the world’s most attractive destinations in terms of foreign businesses, the IDSC report said, noting that - as stated by the UNCTAD - it topped a 2020 list of African countries with 15 percent of the total foreign investments flowing to the continent - that is worth $5.9 billion of the total.

The report pointed that the net value of foreign investments in Egypt made up 1.3 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2020-2021.

Foreign direct investments (FDIs) amounted to some $5.2 billion, according to statistics of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE).

The IDSC report also touched upon positive expectations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which expected further improvement in terms of FDIs to be pumped into Egypt in the coming years.

The IMF expected that the net FDIs would increase by 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2021-2022, 2.5 percent in 2022-2023, 2.9 percent in 2023-2024 and 3 percent in 2024-2025.

The IMF also expected the FDIs to reach a net value of $8.6 billion in 2021-2022, $11.7 billion in 2022-2023, $14.9 billion in 2023-2024 and $16.5 billion in 2024-2025.

The World Bank expected the net FDIs would make up 1.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 2021-2022 and 1.9 percent in 2022-2023.

Fitch Ratings, meanwhile, underscored stability in the Egyptian economy, which it believed would contribute to further flow of FDIs, particularly to the non-petroleum sectors.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said private and foreign direct investments in Egypt would increase, thus maintaining economic growth in the Arab country.