UAE more than doubles investments in Egypt to $1.9bn in six months

The UAE more than doubled its investments in Egypt during the first half of the 2021-2022 fiscal year, after a series of government-backed initiatives and forays by private companies.

The value of Emirati investments in Egypt, the Arab world's third-largest economy, rose to $1.9 billion in the first six months of the fiscal year, up by about 169 per cent from $712.6m in the same period a year ago, Egypt's Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics said in a statement on its website.

The value of trade between the two countries increased 1.4 per cent year-on-year to $1.2bn during the first quarter of 2022, the government agency said.

On Sunday, UAE President Sheikh Mohamed held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi during a visit to the country where they discussed bilateral co-operation and opportunities to grow the strategic partnership between the two countries, especially in the economic and development fields.

The UAE has been boosting its investments in Egypt, a market of more than 103 million people, through a series of deals spanning sectors from ports to energy. The UAE and Egypt already share a historically strong economic relationship. The countries, along with Jordan and Bahrain, signed the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development this year to boost sustainable industrial growth and explore opportunities for joint investment in priority sectors.

The industrial partnership is expected to boost the gross domestic product of the member countries by $809bn. In December 2021, Abu Dhabi’s holding company ADQ opened a new office in Cairo as it seeks to increase its investment in the country.

It aims to accelerate Egypt’s economic development through joint strategic investment projects, specialised funds and investment tools in key sectors such as health care and pharmaceuticals, utilities, food and agriculture, real estate and financial services, ADQ said at the time.

Top Egyptian exports to the UAE in the first quarter of 2022 included natural pearls and precious stones ($351.6m), machinery, electronic devices and parts ($64.1m), fruits ($29.4m), clothes ($24.9m), and vegetables and plants ($19.7m), Egypt's statistics agency has said.

The UAE's top exports to Egypt during the period included plastics and by-products ($144.9m), natural pearls and precious stones ($77.5m), fuels, mineral oils and their distillates ($67.6m), iron and steel ($53.4m), and seafood ($45.7m).

The remittances of Egyptians working in the UAE reached $3.5bn in the first half of the fiscal year, up from $3.4bn in the same period a year earlier, according to Egypt's official data.The number of Egyptians living in the UAE reached 950,000 by the end of 2020, the government agency said.