Egyptian economy makes its mark in New York Stock Exchange With US-Egyptian relations shifting from the exchange of government aid to valuable private investments within Egypt, the region's leading businessmen and financial experts headed to the US to showcase the results of recent economic reforms and successes achieved in Egypt since the government reforms announced in 2003.
The two day event, spearheaded by Beltone Financial, took place in New York between the 4th and 5th of February and attracted an enormous crowed, solidifying Egypt's reputation as a surefire place to invest in the region.
Among the players present in New York was Amwal AlKhaleej, a leading regional private equity firm whose success can be attributed in part to its direct investment strategies throughout Egypt. Ammar AlKhudairy, the company's CEO highlighted that,
'In Egypt, private equity returns don't depend on financial restructuring but on actual growth. Net direct investment in Egypt nearly doubled in the financial year ending in June 2007 to $11.1bn. Since the 40% of total foreign direct investment in Egypt last fiscal year came from the Gulf region, our expertise and knowledge is important for US investors.'
Prior to the 2003 economic reforms, Egypt was ranked as one of the 10 worst capital markets by the World Bank. However, Egypt has since jumped 26 places and is regarded today as one of the region's top investment markets.
AlKhudairy emphasized that, 'More foreign direct investment means creating more jobs, an opportunity that has a greater impact in the lives of Egyptians. As one of Egypt's committed private equity firms, we as Amwal AlKhaleej presented our positive analysis of Egypt, our investment model and our success with Amwal Al Arabia to US investors in New York and there is no doubt that it had an impact on key investors. It is our duty to share our expertise and knowledge about the Egyptian market since doing so will play a vital role in pushing up the economic growth rate in Egypt. '
The trip was indeed a milestone for Egypt after government officials and the visiting delegation rang the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) bell to mark the close of the trading day on February 4th. Traders at NYSE also had a chance to attend an informative seminar prior to the bell ceremony that was attended by the Minister of Finance His Excellency Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali, Minister of Investment His Excellency Dr. Mahmoud Moheildin, The Chairman of The Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange Mr. Maged Shawki, and many other prominent, regional business leaders including Aladdin Saba, Chairman and co-founder of Beltone Financial, and Ammar AlKhudairy, CEO of Amwal AlKhaleej.
Amwal AlKhaleej invested approximately $112m in 3 investments lines of textiles, petrochemicals, and consumer finance sectors in Egypt alone. Its major investment, Amwal Al Arabia, is already considered one of the major textile giants in the region. Amwal AlKhaleej was founded in late 2004 as a regional private equity firm that sources, structures, and acts as a primary investor in strategic minority equity investments, growth capital, as well as private placements. Currently, the company is managing a portfolio of investments exceeding $500m in total, and this figure will double with the deployment of Amwal III, which is being announced soon.
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