Cairo - Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr agreed with Saudi business tycoons Abdulrahman Sharbatly and Sheikh Fahd El-Shobokshi to invest $2.15 billion in the Egyptian market. The announcement came during a meeting between Nasr, Sharbatly and Shobokshi to discuss boosting their investments, a Sunday statement from the Ministry said. Sharbatly, who is deputy chairperson of Cairo-based Golden Pyramids Plaza, told Nasr his investments in Egypt reached $3 billion. Sharbatly's son, Hassan Sharbatly disclosed intention to invest $2.15B in Sharm El-Sheikh and Hurghada projects in addition to a cement project. Egypt is working to facilitate investments procedures especially for Saudi investments, in light of the plan of the Egyptian-Saudi Business Council to raise their investments in Egypt to $51 billion in both government and private sector. Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal took the Egyptian market by storm in the first week of August when he pledged new investments in the hotel sector. The announced cooperation deal with Talaat Mostafa Group (TMG) carries a total investment volume that exceeds $800 million which will be injected into the hotel sector. The deal, which was announced by Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr, will include the expansion of the Four Seasons Resort Sharm El-Sheikh—making it the largest hotel in the world. Inaugurated in 2002, the Sharm El-Sheikh property will add 800 new rooms at a total cost of $380 million, to reach 1,400 rooms, and the extension is scheduled to be completed by the next year. A new hotel will be built in TMG's Madinaty along the Suez Road and another in Al-Alamein on the North Coast; the latter is seeing increased interest, most recently from the UAE's Mohamed el-Abbar, who just days before the TMG deal announced his intention to set up a number of projects in the city.
