Investment

Why Egypt

Egypt experienced a minimal decline during the world economic downturn; it has macroeconomic stability and reported strong growth figures, particularly in recent years. GDP growth in 2008 reached 7.2 percent; growth fell to 4.7 percent in 2009 as a cause of the global recession. Before the January 25 Revolution, growth was forecast to reach 6 percent in 2011, this has been adjusted downwards to 3.8 percent. Growth is expected to pick up again after 2011.
Egypt has a large, trained and competitively priced labour force; Egypt’s skill-intensive and service based industries such as ICT, financial services and tourism are leading in the Middle East region.
Egypt is a real market economy that boasts the largest consumer market in the region – a population of 85 million people.
Since 2004, strong economic reforms and privatisation have led to a well-developed infrastructure base. Egypt provides competitively priced and reliable supplies of power, gas and water.
Egypt’s economic reforms have also led to a competitive tax system. For more information, visit our tax & customs page.
Egypt is an ideal hub for global business and trade. It is centrally located on the world map and enjoys bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with the EU, COMESA, the Arab Region, Turkey and the United States.  

Foreign Direct Investment

Egypt was the first Arab and first African country to sign the OECD declaration on international investment and multinational enterprises. Foreign direct investment (FDI) remained strong despite the global economy crisis; FDI increased from USD 11.1 billion 2006/07 to USD 13.2 billion 2007/08. 2008/09 saw a light dip to USD 8.1 billion due to the recession. In August 2009, Egypt was ranked first in North Africa and second best destination for FDI in the African continent for the FY 2009/10, after South Africa, in terms of investment climate attractiveness, according to the “African Countries of the Future 2009-2010” report by FDI Intelligence. FDI will likely remain stagnant in the short term as a result of the January 25 Revolution.

Investment Opportunities
Pipeline PPP Projects

The UK is the largest foreign investor in Egypt with a total cumulative investment of $22bn by the end of 2008. Examples of UK investors include BP, BG, Shell, GlaxoSmithKline, Cadbury, HSBC, Barclays, Vodafone and Unilever.

The UK provides an unrivalled and highly cost-effective environment for global companies to thrive. It is a leader in the fields of creativity and innovation. The UK is the 6th largest economy in the world and in 2010 the World Bank named it most desirable place within the EU and G8 to conduct business. It has also been awarded most attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment in Europe by Ernst & Young.  The UK has the least barriers to entrepreneurship in the world and has the third least barriers to trade and investment in the world. The UK is an internationally competitive location for tax.