54 billion dollars harvested by Arab countries from foreign investment flows

Recent official data revealed a slight decline in foreign direct investment inflows to Arab countries, by 3 percent, to reach about $54 billion in 2022.

The Arab Corporation for Guaranteeing Investment and Export Credit "Daman" indicated that the decline in the share of Arab countries coincided with a decline in foreign investment flows in the world by 12.4 percent to $1.3 trillion, affected by the continuation of the Russian war in Ukraine. And its repercussions on the global economy in increasing inflationary pressures and tightening financial conditions in most countries of the world.

The share of Arab countries exceeds 4 percent

In its annual monitoring, Daman revealed that the share of Arab countries represented about 4.2 percent of the total global flows and six percent of the total inflows to developing countries during 2022.

This is with the continued geographical concentration of incoming flows to the Arab region, after the first three countries accounted for about 78 percent of all those flows.

1. The UAE and the Arab countries were able to attract foreign inflows worth $22.7 billion, representing 42.3 percent of the total inflows to the countries of the Arab region.

2. This was followed by Egypt, which managed to acquire about $11.4 billion, with a share of about 21.2 percent.

3. Saudi Arabia was also able to attract inflows of about eight billion dollars, with a share of 14.7 percent of the total inflows.

4. The Sultanate of Oman came in fourth place, with a value of $3.7 billion, with a share of 6.9 percent.

5. Morocco ranked fifth after attracting $2.1 billion in inflows, with a share of four percent.

6. In sixth place is Bahrain, with foreign investments amounting to one billion dollars, with a share of 3.6 percent.

7. Mauritania came in seventh place after it was able to attract foreign investments worth $1.1 billion, with a share of 2.1 percent.

Foreign direct investment balances incoming to Arab countries increased by the end of 2022 at a rate of 4.4 percent compared to 2021, to exceed $1 trillion.

According to UNCTAD data, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE accounted for more than 57 percent of the total cumulative balances incoming to the Arab region.

Saudi Arabia topped the list with a volume of balances amounting to about $269 billion, with a share of 25.2 percent of the foreign direct investment balances incoming to the Arab countries.

Followed by the UAE with a value of $194.3 billion and a share of 18.2 percent, followed by Egypt with about $149 billion and a share of 13.9 percent.

Outflows are down 54 percent

Foreign direct investment flows from Arab countries to various countries of the world declined sharply by 54 percent to $23.3 billion in 2022, as a result of the decline in investment flows. and recording negative values in three Arab countries, the most important of which is Kuwait, which, according to the UNCTAD report, witnessed the liquidation of foreign investments worth $25.6 billion.

Foreign direct investment balances issued by Arab countries increased by 10.7 percent to $590 billion by the end of 2022, to which five Gulf countries contributed: The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain account for about 89 percent of the total balances issued by the Arab region, with shares amounting to 40.7 percent in the Emirates. and 28.4 percent in Saudi Arabia, 8.5 percent in Qatar, 7.9 percent in Kuwait, and 3.6 percent in Bahrain.