Saudi investments in Egypt stable: GAFI

CAIRO - 5 November 2017: Saudi investments in Egypt are stable despite an announcement by Saudi Arabia Saturday night the arrest of some Saudi ministers and princes, of whom are businessmen investing in Egypt, an official at the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) said Sunday.

Speaking to Egypt Today, the anonymous source said that the Saudi government is the main driver of the majority of investments through sovereign funds.

A number of 4,309 Saudi companies are investing in Egypt, with capital inflows of $7.218 billion, according to GAFI.

Ranked as the second largest Arab investor in Egypt, Saudi Arabia has a number of 854 companies working in the industrial sector in the country, 1,366 in the services sector, 784 in the construction sector, 322 in the tourism sector, 111 in the financial sector, 490 in the agriculture sector and 382 firms in the communications and information technology sector.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia have constantly enjoyed strong economic relationship. During King Salman bin AbdulAziz’s visit to Egypt in April 2016, the two countries signed several agreements at a total value of $25 billion.

One of the most ambitious projects between both countries is to build a bridge to connect them, a project that is expected to facilitate access to the free trade zone planned for the Sinai Peninsula, where the Saudi partner is set to finance a number of projects to upgrade infrastructure.

Other projects include a $16 billion agreement to establish an Egyptian-Saudi investment fund and a $100 million deal to establish the West Cairo power plant.

In the second quarter of 2017, Arab countries injected $300.8 million in investment in Egypt, with the United Arab Emirates coming on top, with $161.1 million, followed by Saudi Arabia at $37.7 million.