Kuwaiti investments in Egypt hit $B: Minister

CAIRO - 3 October 2022: Kuwaiti investments in Egypt are estimated at about $15 billion, while the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounted to about $5 billion, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait.

 

“Kuwait is the third largest Arab trading partner, and the fourth largest global trading partner among the investing countries, and there are about 105 joint agreements covering various fields,” according to the Minister of Finance before the Egyptian-Kuwaiti Economic Forum, Monday.

 

He noted that during the last fiscal year, Egypt succeeded in achieving good performance in some vital sectors, as the Suez Canal recorded the highest return of about $7 billion, and the oil sector recorded surpluses of about $5 billion, while our exports of natural gas amounted to $500 million per month.

 

“Egypt is adopting an ambitious strategy to diversify sources and financing tools and reduce the cost of development projects, especially in light of intertwined global economic challenges,” the Minister of Finance said.

 

“Egypt was one of the first countries in the Middle East and North Africa to issue green bonds worth $750 million in September 2020, and the return from it was directed to environmentally friendly national projects,” Maait explained.

 

“We are currently studying the issuance of sovereign sukuk, green sukuk and green samurai bonds, after we succeeded in issuing the first offering of samurai bonds, worth $500 million, and we also aim to issue sustainable development bonds with a social dimension, and enter the Chinese markets,” the Finance Minister added.

 

In September, Maait added that the Egyptian government is studying with the Japanese side the issuance of "green samurai" bonds during the coming period, after the success of the first 60 billion Japanese yen bond issuance in the Japanese market, in a way that attracted many Japanese investors.

 

In March, Egypt issued Japanese Yen-denominated bonds with a total of $500 million, the first of their kind in Egypt and the Middle East.

 

The Samurai bond is a yen-denominated bond issued in Tokyo by non-Japanese firms and is run under Japanese regulations.