Investment Progress in Egypt A. The Euromoney Conference in Cairo: 1. The Egyptian Prime Minister will inaugurate the “Euromoney” conference to be held in Cairo during the period from 11-12 September under the title of “Financing Egypt’s Growth“. The conference is considered a culmination of Egyptian efforts to continuously improve economic performance and attract more foreign direct investment (FDI). 2. Among the participants in the conference are the Ministers of Finance, Investment, Trade and Industry, Information and Communications Technology, Petroleum as well as the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt and various heads of Egyptian Banks and Egyptian and International Economic Organizations. 3. The conference will discuss a number of issues, most important of which being the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy and latest developments in the investment climate in Egypt, not to mention issues such as development finance through the private sector, Information and Communication Technology in Egypt, the stock exchange performance, mortgage financing, improving Egypt’s ability to export natural gas and finally ways of boosting major development criteria.  B. Foreign Direct Investment in Egypt: 1. The amount of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Egypt during the past fiscal year (ending last July) reached 6.1 billion USD representing an increase of 3.9 billion USD from the past fiscal year. 2. Foreign Investments, excluding the oil & gas sector, amounted to 4.2 billion USD, showing a huge improvement from the previous figure of 408 million USD of two years ago. 3. The Oil & Gas sector represented 30 % of total foreign investment in Egypt as opposed to 15 % for the services sector and 55 % for the other producing sectors. C. UAE Investments in Egypt:  1. According to the latest figures published by the Egyptian Ministry of Investment, the amount of UAE investment in Egypt has totaled 50 billion LE since the beginning of the current year thus proving the confidence of UAE investors in the Egyptian investment climate. 2. Last July, Etisalat of UAE won the contract for the establishment of the third Mobile telephone operator in Egypt with a winning bid of 16.7 billion LE.  Meanwhile, the construction firm Emaar, acquired the contract for the building of a mega tourism project in Cairo and on the North coast with a winning bid of 13 billion LE. Similarly, the United National Bank of Emirates managed to acquire the Trade and Maritime Bank of Alexandria with a winning bid of 250 million LE, and finally the Abraj Company paid 3 billion LE to acquire a 25 % stake in the Egyptian Finance Company (Hermes). D. The Cairo Investment Forum: 1.The Cairo Investment Forum will be held during the period from 11-12 December with the participation of 1000 leaders from both the Egyptian Private and Public sectors including a number of Chairmen of Arab and International banks. 2. The conference is to be jointly organized by the Ministry of Investment and the General Authority on Free Zones and Investment (GAFI). The agenda of the conference includes discussing various business and investment opportunities in the Industrial, Agricultural, Banking and Tourism and Services sectors as well as opportunities for investment in the Egyptian stock exchange and in major infrastructural projects. The conference will also present Egypt’s new economic strategy, the ongoing privatization program and the current situation of the investment climate in Egypt and ways to improve it.