A statement issued by the Egyptian Cabinet stated that “Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly witnessed, at the government headquarters in the New Administrative Capital, this evening, the signing of partnership contracts between Emaar Misr and City Stars with the Egyptian government to launch their latest project, Marassi Red Sea. This step aims to enhance the status of the Red Sea region in Egypt as a unique tourist destination and contribute to boosting economic and tourist growth potentials in Egypt with investments amounting to 900 billion pounds (about 18.54 billion US dollars).” The statement noted that “the project includes 400-meter long marine docks and navigable waterways extending into the heart of the project.” It added that “among the top investment features of the project is the launch of 12 luxury hotels, including hotel rooms and residential units distributed to serve all areas of the project, Maldives-style floating cabins, and more than 500 shops and restaurants overlooking the waterfront, providing between 150,000 to 170,000 job opportunities.” The statement pointed out that “this project comes after years of the Marassi North Coast experience, a project that has become the beating heart of the Mediterranean and enhanced the region’s position on the global tourism map, attracting over 4 million visitors in three months compared to 3 million annually for other European cities. The plan is to complete this pioneering project in four years.” It explained that “this giant project will contribute to enhancing the status of the Red Sea as an integrated investment and tourist area, increasing its ability to attract tourists and investors from all over the world, reflecting the Egyptian government’s vision in supporting major projects that drive the national economy forward.” The project is expected to provide between 150,000 to 170,000 direct and indirect jobs in construction, hospitality, marinas, retail, and more, with about 25,000 full-time jobs after the project stabilizes (hotels, retail, marina operations). The head of the Egyptian General Authority for Investment, Hossam Heiba, confirmed last Tuesday during the Egyptian-Bahraini Business Forum that Egypt ranks ninth globally and first in Africa in the list of investment-receiving countries with net investment inflows amounting to 46.1 billion US dollars in the fiscal year 2023-2024. The Egyptian official said that the Egyptian market enjoys many attractive features for investment, including a large workforce exceeding 32 million individuals, great diversity in economic sectors, a distinguished geographical location, competitive tax rates, strong infrastructure, and trade agreements covering about 70 countries, granting easy access for Egyptian goods and services to about 3 billion consumers worldwide. Egypt achieved an exceptional leap in 2024 in the volume of foreign direct investments, reaching 47 billion dollars compared to 10 billion in the previous year, supported by the development deal of “Ras El Hikma City” with the UAE valued at nearly 35 billion dollars. Egypt is developing the “Golden License” system as a primary tool to stimulate investment, as this unified license allows the establishment, operation, land allocation, and obtaining of licenses through a single entity only. These licenses are granted immediately for major Gulf projects, especially with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait.
