Director of Investment and Enterprise at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) James Zhan stressed that Egypt has been providing a significant and inspiring investment promotion experience and has maintained its position as Africa’s future investment destination.
Despite the decline in international investment flows, Zhan said Egypt remains one of the world’s most attractive countries for investment, especially value added investments, and it is among the most prominent developing economies.
At a roundtable meeting in Cairo, he announced details of UNCTAD’s annual report on global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
He presented FDI’s flows to developing countries, noting that they have risen by 3 percent to $694 billion.
Developing countries accounted for 58 percent of total global foreign investment flows, up 6 percent in Africa, which were concentrated in a limited number of countries, mainly Egypt followed by South Africa, 5 percent in Asia, and 4 percent in Latin America.
FDI has declined globally by 13 percent in 2018 as investment flows decreased by $1.3 million from $1.5 million recorded in 2017, Zhan said.
He pointed out that despite this drop, foreign investments in Africa are promising, as the continent has succeeded in recovering from the aftermath of the global decline in FDI.
Investments in the continent amounted to $46 billion in 2018, a year-on-year increase of 11 percent.
“Multinational companies in developing countries are expanding their activities in Africa,” he said.
“Investors from countries with the highest growth rates still have the lion’s share of these investments, especially the Netherlands, France, the UK and China.”
“I expect that growing in demand, and subsequently increasing prices of goods that Africa is the main producer of, would reinforce FDI flows to the continent during 2019,” Zhan stated.
He praised the Egyptian government’s move to establish private economic zones as an effective tool to attract more investments, adding that there are 5,400 private economic zones around the world.
Zhan also suggested that the government establish more private economic zones because they offer all the incentives that foster investment, as well as provide fertile grounds for the growth of industries and services.
Regarding Egypt’s economic reforms, Zhan said international data reveals that economy liberalization and investment promotion have helped increase investments by up to 66 percent in countries that have adopted economic reforms programs.
While those which impose restrictions on trade and investments have suffered from investments flow decreases by up to 34 percent.
“I urge the Egyptian government to maximize benefits from the investment and trade agreements it has recently signed as there are 3,400 trade agreements in force among all the world countries,” he stressed.
He pointed to significant growth in investment flows in the sustainable development sector, especially in the green economy and human-investment, such as agriculture, food security and education.
Egypt’s Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr stressed that amendments approved by parliament this month on the investment law keep pace with the best global practices for investment.
