The size of foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Egypt during 2014 amounted to $4.8bn, according to the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce. The chamber issued a report indicating that the size of FDIs the Arab world reached $43.9bn last year. According to the Chamber, the UAE has been ranked first in terms of attracting FDIs totalling $10.1bn, followed by Saudi Arabia with $8bn, and then Egypt with $4.8bn. The report stated that countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait – have together attracted about half of the investments flowing to the Arab world during 2014. In return, these countries have pumped FDI totalling $33.4bn. Kuwait topped the list of foreign investors among the Arab countries, with investments amounting to $13m over the past year. Michelle Halabi, Secretary-General of the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce said that these statistics confirm the growing reputation of the Arab countries as a major and attractive destination for FDIs over the past few years. He added that Gulf states, in particular, have attracted wide attention from businessmen and international investors, which reinforces the growing economy of the region, which has a favourable investment environment in the light of the adoption of policies encouraging business confidence. It explained that, given the importance of FDI to stimulate economic growth, the new statistics represent a positive indicator for the GCC markets experiencing a growing momentum and steady growth in various economic sectors. Halabi expressed optimism that the GCC and other Arab countries will continue to strengthen their presence as an attractive and effective global investment hub in the upcoming years.
