Egypt’s net FDI records $66.7bln over past 10 years: CAPMAS

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The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has revealed that the net foreign direct investment (FDI) in Egypt reached $66.7bn over the past 10 years.

The agency said, in a statement on Sunday, that foreign investments amounted to $4.2bn during the fiscal year (FY) 2013/2014, compared to $3.8bn during the previous year, an increase of 11.3%, and increased in the following year to record $6.4bn, an increase of 52.7%, and it recorded $6.9bn in 2015/2016, an increase of 8.7% over the previous year.

It pointed to an increase in investments to reach $7.9bn in 2016/2017, an increase of 14.4% over the previous year, and decreased in the following year to record $7.7bn, a decrease of 2.7%. Then, it increased in 2018/2019 to reach $8.2bn, an increase of 6.7% from the previous year, then it decreased again in 2019/2020, recording $7.5bn, a decrease of 9.5%, and as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, it continued to decline to reach $5.2bn, a decrease of 30% from the previous year, and with the efforts of the state It rose again to reach $8.9bn in 2021/2022, an increase of 71.4%.

The value of net foreign direct investment recorded $5.7bn during the first half of the fiscal year 2022/2023, compared to $3.3bn during the same period of the fiscal year 2021/2022, an increase of $2.4bn or 75.4%.

According to the agency, Saudi Arabia topped the list of the top ten countries investing in Egypt during the first half of the fiscal year 2022/2023, as the value of its investments amounted to $2.1bn, followed by the UAE with $1.5bn, then Italy with $1.2bn, then the United Kingdom with $1.2bn, then the United States of America $1bn, then Luxembourg $705.7m, then the Netherlands $641.4m, then China $418.6m, then Switzerland $388.6m, and finally Kuwait $282.2m.

The number of companies established in accordance with the investment laws reached 31,200 companies during the fiscal year 2021/2022 compared to 28,500 companies during the fiscal year 2020/2021, an increase of 9.2%. The capital value of these companies recorded EGP 117.4bn during the fiscal year 2021/2022 compared to EGP 84.9bn during the fiscal year 2020/2021, an increase of 38.3%.

According to the agency, Egyptians acquired the largest share of the capital value of companies that were established according to investment laws, at a value of EGP 108.9bn during the year 2021/2022, or 92.8% of the total capital, followed by Arabs, with a value of EGP 5.2bn, or 4.5%, and finally foreigners, EGP 3.2bn or 2.7%.

The services sector came at the top of the list of the highest sectors in which companies were established during the fiscal year 2021/2022, as the number of companies reached 17,100 companies, followed by the industry sector 5,200 companies, then the construction sector 4,400 companies, then the communications and information technology sector 2,400 companies, then the agricultural sector 1,500 companies, then the tourism sector 496 companies, and finally the financing sector 27 companies.

It explained that the construction sector accounted for the largest share of the value of capital for companies that were established according to investment laws during the fiscal year 2021/2022, as the value of the companies’ capital amounted to EGP 57.1bn, followed by the services sector at EGP 29.3bn, then the industry sector at EGP 22.2bn, then the agricultural sector amounted to EGP 3.6bn, then the tourism sector amounted to EGP 2.1bn, then the communications and information technology sector amounted to EGP 1.7bn, and finally the financing sector amounted to EGP 1.4bn.

CAPMAS indicated that the Egyptian state seeks to remove all obstacles facing investors in order to attract more investments as it is one of the sources of foreign exchange and to establish new projects to provide job opportunities and reduce unemployment rates in order to achieve the goals of the new republic.