Sultanate second in Arab investment
KUWAIT CITY: The Sultanate came second in the list of countries receiving the biggest number of inter-Arab investment projects in 2016, said a report issued by the Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) on the investment climate in the Arab states.
As per the same report, Saudi Arabia topped the list with 21 per cent of the total number of inter-Arab investment projects, followed by the Sultanate 12 per cent and Egypt less than 12 per cent. The report added that the Sultanate came forth in terms of countries receiving inter-Arab investment projects during the period from 2003 to 2016 with 238 projects or 9 per cent of the total number of projects (2,525).
The total cost of the inter-Arab investment projects stood at $12,785 million and that during 2016, 91 Arab companies set up 142 new projects in the region and outside their states at a cost of $22.2 billion. These projects generated 26,600 fresh jobs. The foreign direct investment to the Sultanate in 2016 stood at $142 million, the report furthered. The foreign direct investment to the Sultanate increased from $5,947.075 million in 2006 to $18,750.055 million in 2016.
The number of incoming foreign projects to the Sultanate during the period from 2003 to 2016 stood at 571 at a cost of $49,628 million and generated 95,679 jobs at 418 companies.
The Sultanate also came 17th on the Arab level in terms of foreign direct investments to the Arab states in 2016 with $142 million, after the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, Algeria, Jordan, Sudan, Tunisia, Qatar, Libya, Somalia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Palestine and Djibouti.
The incoming foreign direct investments to the Arab world increased by 25 per cent in 2016 to hit $30.8 billion compared to $24.6 billion in 2015. The report also pointed out that the incoming foreign direct investments to the Arab world last year comprised 1.8 per cent of the total number of investments, which stood at 1,774 billion or 4.8 per cent of the developing countries ($646 billion).