CAIRO - The UAE is the top foreign direct investor in Egypt with $4.6 billion in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2021-2022, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said.

“The UAE is the first country to allocate investments to Egypt with a share of 29 percent of the total foreign investments and about 72 percent of the total Arab investments flowing to Egypt during the first 9-month period of FY22,” Madbouly said at the event to celebrate 50th anniversary of Egypt-UAE cooperation.

The event was held in Cairo on Wednesday.

Madbouly said the Emirates has always been among the first supporters of the Egyptian state in critical times.

The Egyptian premier said Egypt was also keen on making contributions to the Emirates in the fields of education, health, culture and justice.

“Egypt is keen on building successful economic partnerships with the UAE by implementing a number of productive projects, especially in the agricultural and industrial fields, to increase the levels of self-sufficiency,” the prime minister said.

He also called for cooperation between the sovereign fund of Egypt and the sovereign funds in the UAE to implement projects in priority areas between the two countries to maximise the return on the investment assets of the two countries.

Meanwhile, the first session of the Economic Forum organised as part of the 50-year celebrations, discussed the economic ties between both countries.

Addressing the forum Dr. Hala H. Elsaid, minister of planning and economic development in Egypt, said the joint strategic investment platform between the Emirates and Egypt, launched in 2019, could already attract investments to the tune of $4 billion out of the targeted $20 billion, despite the decline in direct investments worldwide due to the current situation.