Egypt Aims to Attract $10 Bln FDI Annually: Minister

On Monday, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait stated that Egypt’s government targets attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) worth $10 billion annually to improve the country’s economic development and create more job opportunities.

Maait made his comments while discussing cooperation with a delegation from Korean companies in a meeting held at the ministry’s headquarters in Cairo.

Maait also told the delegation that the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) that Egypt will host in November will be a platform to boost development and green investments in the country alongside the contribution of the private sector.

During the meeting, Maait urged the Korean companies to tap the investment opportunities Egypt offers in the fields of agriculture, industry, transport, energy, and water, pledging to eliminate any sort of obstacles investors may be beset by.

The minister also touched upon Egypt’s positive and stable macroeconomic performance over the past 11 months despite the ongoing global economic crisis, which was reflected in the recent report published by the World Bank that raised its projections for Egypt’s real GDP growth to 6.1 percent in current FY2021/2022 – which wraps up by the end of June – up from 5.9 percent.

Maait also showcased the positive results of applying digital transformation solutions in tax and customs systems, which raised tax revenues by 16.2 percent over the past 12 months.

“This improvement has helped the government increase spending on social protection by 14.3 percent, health by 21.2  percent, education by 18 percent, and raising the allocations for the public investments by 20.9 percent,” said Maait, speaking to the delegation.

Going forward, Maait explained that the government targets over six percent in real GDP growth and a 1.2 percent in preliminary surplus, as well as decreasing the budget overall deficit to 6.1 percent and lowering that debt to GDP ratio to 86 percent by end of the current FY2021/2022.

Trade exchange between Egypt and South Korea climbed by 46.9 percent in 2021 to a record $1.8 billion, up from $1.2 billion in 2020, which mainly included oil products, cement, granite, aluminum, ready-made garments, machines, and equipment, in addition to autos and medical devices, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.