Saudi Arabia to open investment office in GAFI headquarters

Cairo – August 7, 2024: Egypt is preparing to inaugurate a new Saudi investment office at the headquarters of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) in Cairo sometime this month, according to an official statement from the Saudi Press Agency.

GAFI is committed to facilitating Saudi investments, explained GAFI CEO Hossam Heiba, noting that the number of Egyptian companies operating in Saudi Arabia reached around 4,000.

He further disclosed plans by GAFI to establish similar offices catering to other countries with substantial investments in Egypt.

Recent high-level discussions between Saudi Arabia's Minister of Investment, Khalid Al-Falih, and several Egyptian ministers underscored mutual efforts to bolster bilateral relations across the Egyptian government.

Al-Falih expressed eagerness to foster reciprocal investments and address any challenges encountered by Saudi investors in Egypt, and recently revealed Saudi Arabia's intention to convert its substantial deposits in the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) into direct investments within the country.

As per CBE data, these deposits amount to $10 billion, with $5.3 billion scheduled for reimbursement by October 2026.

The Saudi investment minister also disclosed ongoing negotiations to finalize an agreement aimed at promoting and safeguarding investments between the two countries, which is expected to be concluded before the end of August.

As of November 2023, Saudi investments in Egypt was recorded at $6.3 billion spread across 7,444 projects spanning various sectors such as industry, construction, tourism, services, and telecommunications.

A recent report from Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Investment revealed that Egyptian enterprises secured 30 percent of all investment licenses issued in the Kingdom during the first quarter of the year, totaling 950 licenses out of 3,157 issued.