CAIRO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi announced on Wednesday that the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has received the first tranche of the multibillion-U.S. dollar investment from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of a deal between the two countries to develop a new city on Egypt's northern coast.
In televised remarks broadcasted on state-run Nile TV, Sisi said the CBE is expected to receive another tranche of the project funds on Friday. However, he did not disclose the specific amount of the fund.
Last week, the two Arab countries reached a deal to develop Ras Al-Hekma, a 170-square-km area west of Egypt's Mediterranean city of Alexandria, into a new massive urban, business and tourism center.
As per the deal, the UAE will inject 35 billion U.S. dollars in foreign direct investment into Egypt within the next two months.
On Wednesday morning, Sisi expressed gratitude to the UAE during the fifth edition of the "Differently-Abled" celebration in Cairo. "There is no state that would pay a sum of 35 billion dollars in partnership within only two months," he said.
Waleed Gaballah, a member of the Egyptian Association for Political Economy, Statistics, and Legislation, highlighted in a previous interview with Xinhua that the deal would alleviate Egypt's economic challenges and help fill its financing gap.
Egypt has been dealing with a severe foreign currency shortage over the past few years due to declined tourism revenues during the COVID-19 pandemic, rising commodity prices and disrupted supply chains following the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict, and a recent plunge in the Suez Canal's income amid surging conflict in the Red Sea, he added. ■
