UAE to invest US$35bn to develop Egypt's Ras Al Hekma coastal zone

Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed an agreement to develop an Egyptian coastal area to promote tourism and investment. This is reported by Daily News Egypt, a partner of TV BRICS. The UAE will invest US$35bn over two months in Ras Al Hekma, a coastal area located about 350 kilometres northwest of Cairo.

The agreement was signed by Egyptian Minister of Housing Assem el-Gazar and UAE Investment Minister Mohammed Hassan Al Suwaidi.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who attended the signing ceremony, said the project will be implemented by Egypt's New Urban Communities Authority together with an Emirati company and will attract billions of dollars of foreign direct investment into the economy within two months.

"This is the largest amount of foreign direct investment in the country's history," he said, adding that the deal was the beginning of a cycle of several investment agreements that the government has been working on to boost foreign exchange inflows.

The project is expected to attract up to US$150 billion in investment during the development phase, helping to create "millions" of jobs and inject liquidity into the Egyptian economy.