KUWAIT: The Arab Corporation for Investment and Export Credit Guarantee (Daman) said on Thursday that foreign direct investment projects coming to the region during the year 2022 increased by 74 percent to 1,617 projects, with 358 percent investment cost worth 200 billion dollars. In a press statement, DAMAN said that these projects were concentrated in Egypt with a 53 percent share of the investment cost, and the UAE with a 57 percent share.
The cumulative value in the region over the past 20 years reached 15.5 trillion dollars through more than 16,000 projects and secured more than two million job opportunity. The institution’s monitoring of 155 indicators issued by 30 international bodies revealed changes in the ranking of Arab countries globally in four main groups of indicators (political, economic, organizational, and production factors) related to the investment climate in the region’s countries during the year 2022, the statement quoted the Director General of Daman, Abdullah Al-Sabeeh, as saying.
Al-Sabeeh explained that the outcome of changes in the status of Arab countries in international indicators reflected positively on the number of direct foreign projects coming to the region and their investment costs, with expectations of continued strong performance in 2023. The number of foreign projects coming to the region increased by 28 percent, and the cost by 70 percent, to reach 74 billion dollars during the first third of 2023 compared to the same period of 2022, especially if the political and economic conditions in the region improve. (Daman), a joint Arab body owned by Arab countries in addition to four Arab financial institutions, was established in 1974. It is headquartered in Kuwait. - KUNA