Egypt’s Planning Minister Hala El-Saeed said on Wednesday, August 22, that the country aims to raise its foreign direct investments (FDIs) to USD 11 bn in FY 2018/19, up from USD 7.9 bn in the prior-year period, Reuters reports.

Under a medium-term development plan to 2022, the government targets to provide nearly 750,000 job opportunities in the current fiscal year which ends in June 2019, the minister noted, adding that the plan, which is part of Egypt’s Vision 2030, is intended to bolster the Egyptian economy’s competitiveness.

Aiming to help attract more foreign investments into the country, Egypt is currently implementing deep reforms under a 2016 IMF-backed austerity plan which, according to economists, had compiled pressure on Egyptians struggling with higher fuel, transportation, and electricity prices.

Meanwhile, El Saeed acknowledged that the medium-term plan envisages Egypt’s economic growth to surge to 8% in FY 2021/22, up from 5.8% in FY 2018/19.

The minister added that increasing non-oil exports by an annual average of 13% to reach USD 35 bn by 2021/22 was one of the plan’s major goals, which also aims to increase the average savings to 23% by 2021/22 from approximately 11% in the current fiscal year, according to Reuters.