Egypt to sign the OECD’s International Investment Declaration, Paris, 11 July 2007

05/07/2007 - Egypt is to become the first Arab and first African country to sign the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises. This marks a new stage in Egypt's drive to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI). A series of policy reforms have helped to underpin a fifteen-fold increase in Egypt’s FDI between 2001 and 2006. FDI reached a record USD 9 billion in the first three quarters of its 2007 fiscal year. This compares with USD 6.1 billion for the whole of 2006.

A signing ceremony at OECD headquarters at 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday 11 July 2007 will be followed by a news conference with Egypt's Minister of Investment, Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría. The news conference will also present the findings of a newly published OECD Investment Policy Review of Egypt.

Since 2006, Egypt has chaired a joint Middle-East and North Africa-OECD Investment Programme. A MENA-OECD Ministerial meeting, “Making reforms succeed: moving forward with the investment policy agenda”, will take place in Cairo on 27-28 November 2007.

To attend the news conference, or to receive an advance copy of the OECD Investment Policy Review of Egypt under embargo, please contact the OECD Media Division (Tel: +33 1 45 24 97 00).

For further information about the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises, please see www.oecd.org/daf/investment