Foreign Investment inflows to Egypt in 2019 reached 8.5 billion dollars: Minister of Planning

Egypt is included for the first time in the ranking of the Bloomberg Innovation Index: says El Said

H.E. Dr. Hala El Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, said that the Egyptian government is taking quick steps towards economic reform and sustainable development, noting that recent international indicators confirm that the state is on the right track.El Said explained that the latest investment trends reports issued by the United Nations Organization for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), ensure that Egypt maintains its position as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment in Africa, where Egypt recorded inflows of $ 8.5 billion during 2019, achieving an increase of 5% compared to the year before 2018.El Said added that the report praised the efforts of the state in implementing the economic reforms package that led to the increasing of investor confidence, and new foreign direct investments remained concentrated in the gas and oil sector, along with significant investments in the telecommunications, real estate and tourism sectors. The World Investment Report 2019 included that foreign investment in Egypt was leaning toward the oil and gas industry, as Egypt's important discoveries of gas reserves abroad attracted investments from multinationals, and it became a net gas exporter in January 2019.Moreover, Dr. Hala El Said explained that Egypt was included for the first time in the ranking of the Bloomberg Innovation Index, as the index ranks countries according to several criteria that include the volume of expenditure on research and development, manufacturing capabilities, and the extent of concentration of high-tech companies offered for public circulation, which corresponds to Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt's Vision 2030.On Egypt's position in the cultural field, El Said indicated that Egypt ranked 13th in heritage in the US News website report, which is issued annually and measures global concepts and perceptions of each country in a number of categories, such as qualitative characteristics and impressions that have the potential to drive trade, travel and investment. The Minister of Planning and Economic Development stressed that the field of culture is one of the areas in which the Egyptian government takes serious steps, pointing to the inauguration of Cairo, the capital of Islamic culture during the year 2020, as the successor to the Tunisian capital.