Egypt has moved up to fifth place globally in the increase in foreign direct investment (FDI) flows, according to a ranking provided by the Financial Times.
In it's report on FDI flows, the British newspaper said that Egypt had jumped 10 places in 2016, putting it in fifth position behind the first four nations, which are India, China, Indonesia and the United States respectively.
The newspaper's FDI report on Friday said that Egypt was only in 15th position in 2015, attributing the improvement to the policies of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on attracting foreign investment for major projects.
The newspaper said the change was surprising, considering Egypt's various challenges, including a fluctuating exchange rate, a lack of foreign currencies in the economy, and declining exports and imports.
“Despite the drought of foreign currency, and the decline in imports and exports, and private sector suffering from recession for a whole year, as well as chaos in the dollar exchange rate, Egypt was able to jump into fifth place in the increase of foreign direct investment flows,” the report said.
“The Egyptian government has made great efforts to attract foreign direct investment through huge projects, along with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s approval, last July, to the proposal of the government and the Investment Ministry, for establishing a Higher Council for Investment, with the participation of number of private sector representatives, and work to improve the investment environment,” the report added.
The report pointed out that the government is working to amend the investment law to increase investments, with attempts to encourage out-of-court settlement of disputes between the state and investors.
The report also mentioned incentives to invest in specific sectors or regions, as well as incentives for investment, including the possibility of partial payment of the costs of public utilities.
Investments in Egypt have seen a considerable growth, said the report, including the pharmaceutical industry, the telecommunications sector, automobiles, and raw materials, which have become attractive targets for investment.
