Egypt is expected to net as much as USD 9.1 bn worth of investments as part of the White House’s USD 50 bn Middle East economic plan, which calls for the development of a global investment fund to uplift the Palestinian and neighboring Arab state economies, Invest-Gate reports.
Set to be presented by White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner at a US-led workshop in Manama, Bahrain, from June 25 to 26, “Peace to Prosperity” plan includes investments to be pumped across 12 projects in Egypt, principally USD 5 bn earmarked for the country’s transport infrastructure, according to documents released by President Donald Trump’s administration on June 22.
The plan will be exhibited in the presence of an Egyptian delegation – headed by Deputy Finance Minister Ahmed Hafez, the statement underlined.
In addition, a total of USD 2 bn is slated for development projects in the Sinai Peninsula (USD 500 mn each for power generation, water infrastructure, transport infrastructure, and tourism projects), the draft plan stated, noting that USD 500 mn will go to expand Egypt’s Suez Canal Zone.
An extra USD 125 mn will be allocated to the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) program, which finances the growth of Egyptian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), alongside USD 30 mn to be used to upgrade the Egypt-Gaza power supply to reach 100 megawatts across two phases, spanning three years. Besides, USD 12 mn will be directed to revamp existing Egyptian lines connected to Gaza, aiming to benefit Palestinians residing in the latter city, which is a fully-packed, penurious coastal enclave.
On June 22, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr announced in an official statement that US-Egyptian deals, inked under the US Economic Assistance Program in Egypt since 2014, has marked almost USD 600 mn. She noted that these contracts are to fund priority national development industries, including sanitation, health, education, tourism, youth, to name a few.
“Total US investments in Egypt reached USD 22 bn by the end of last December,” Nasr confirmed, referring to several American companies that recently expanded into Egypt and invested roughly USD 1 bn in FY 2017/18.
