American direct investment in Egypt records $22.8B in 2019

CAIRO - 9 December 2019: American direct investment in Egypt hiked 26 percent during 2019, hitting $22.8 billion,the Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation revealed Monday.

Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr met with Deputy Director of the United States Agency for International Development Andrew Plett during his first visit to Egypt to review the Egyptian priorities for the coming period, in the presence of Director of the United States Agency for International Development in Egypt Sherry Carlin, and Investment Minister Assistant Sherihan Bakhit.

The meeting discussed increasing cooperation between Egypt and the United States Agency for International Development, as the total portfolio with the American side reached about $1 billion.

According to government data, about 1560 American companies operate in Egypt in various economic sectors, including oil and renewable energy, agriculture, foodstuffs, industry, telecommunications and information technology.

Egypt is also the largest recipient of American investment in Africa, and the second in the Middle East. According to the data, the total US capital in Egypt in the non-oil sectors amounted to about $2.6 billion, distributed among 1,268 companies.

The minister referred to the strategic relations between Egypt and the United States of America and the existing economic cooperation, which reflects the economic partnership between the two countries in the development sectors and projects that were prioritized according to the citizens' needs, and the Egyptian economic and social reform program.

She emphasized that the government's priorities are to empower youth and women, and support small and medium-sized enterprises as well as the drinking water and sanitation sector, while expanding social protection programs through the implementation of development projects in all fields such as infrastructure, developing and establishing new roads, social housing, health care, and education.

For his part, Plett praised the economic and social reform program and the measures taken by Egypt to improve the investment climate, noting that the United States Agency for International Development is proud to partner with Egypt in a number of projects, and is looking forward to a strong economic partnership with the country in the next stage in light of the economic successes and improvement in the business environment.

The bilateral agreements signed within the framework of the US economic assistance program amounted to $600 million from 2014 until now; $200 million were allocated to finance small and medium projects and entrepreneurship through the Egyptian-American Business Fund from 2014 until now.

The value of what America provided to Egypt was about $30 billion in aid since 1979.

Moreover, the volume of trade exchange between the two countries increased 34 percent to reach $7.5 billion in 2018, compared to $5.6 billion in 2017, and Egyptian non-oil exports to the American market increased by 14.8 percent, to reach $1.658 billion in 2018, compared to $1.444 million in 2017.

As per Us imports from Egypt, New Jersey came on top of the most important American states importing from Egypt in 2017, with imports amounting to about $270.4 million, followed by California with $231.6 million, Georgia with $193.7 million, New York with $189.5 million, and finally Texas with a value of $135.4 million.