A real estate arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund said Thursday it will invest $29.7 billion in a tourism and residential development project on Egypt’s northern coast — as the country seeks investments to boost a faltering economy.
Egypt, mired in its worst economic crisis in decades, is betting big on its 3,000 kilometres (1,800 miles) of coastline as a revenue source.
The project in the Alam al-Roum area, in Egypt’s Matrouh Governorate, will span “4,900 acres… extending across a coastline of 7.2 kilometres of the pristine Mediterranean shoreline”, a statement from the Qatari Diar company said.
It will include luxury residences and tourism facilities including a marina and golf courses, the statement said.
The investment marks a further step in the warming of ties between the two countries after a low point when Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain imposed a three-year diplomatic and economic blockade on Qatar beginning in 2017.
They demanded Doha cut ties with the Muslim Brotherhood and its sister organisation Hamas, and downgrade relations with Iran.
In 2024 the UAE said it would inject $35 billion in foreign direct investment into Egypt, including $24 billion that would go to developing the Ras al-Hikma area west of Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast.
And in April, during a visit by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to Qatar. the gas-rich Gulf States announced plans to invest $7.5 billion.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly welcomed the Qatari Diar investment, saying it “represents a major investment partnership between our two brotherly nations”.
Gulf investments are a crucial lifeline to boost Egypt’s faltering economy.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous nation, has taken tentative steps to emerge from its worst-ever economic crisis with prices for consumer goods rising by the day in major cities early last year.
Its economic troubles have worsened due to the war in the neighbouring Gaza Strip, which was halted with a ceasefire deal on October 10 and which began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, cross-border attack on southern Israel.
Highly indebted after years of heavy borrowing, including for a new capital city in the desert east of Cairo, Egypt has struggled to service its ballooning debt.
The International Monetary Fund stepped in with a $3 billion loan facility but has demanded painful austerity measures.
Loan tranches and programme reviews have been repeatedly delayed until Cairo moves ahead with promised reforms, including a fully flexible exchange rate, the IMF says.
“This project represents a strategic step towards further positioning the north coast as a world-class integrated destination,” said Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Attiya, chairman of Qatari Diar.
“It reflects Qatar’s commitment — through Qatari Diar — to supporting the Egyptian government’s efforts to achieve sustainable development and activate coastal areas all year round,” Attiya, who is also Qatar’s municipality minister, added.
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© Agence France-Presse
