This FDI Qualities Review of Egypt examines how foreign direct investment (FDI) can contribute to productivity, innovation, job quality, and skills development. While foreign investment serves as a vital source of financing for Egypt, sustaining and deepening the current reform efforts is essential to ensure its benefits are more equitably distributed across society and to foster the growth of a knowledge-based economy. The review evaluates the policy and regulatory environment shaping technology transfer from foreign multinationals to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It offers policy recommendations to strengthen the spillover potential of FDI, enhance the ability of Egyptian SMEs to absorb new knowledge, and strengthen Egypt’s integration in global value chains.
The review was prepared by the OECD in co-operation with the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation (MPEDIC) and the General Authority for Investment (GAFI), and with the support of a dedicated taskforce that included the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA), Industrial Development Authority (IDA), Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), Technology and Innovation Entrepreneurship Centre (TIEC), Export Development Authority (IDA), Industrial Modernisation Center (IMC), the National Council for Women (NCW), and the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS). Guidance, support, and inputs from MPEDIC’s Heba Youssef and Nur Islam and GAFI’s Amr Abou El-Foutouh, Heba Abdellatif, Radwa Kamouna, Eman Mansour, and Fatma Safwat Abdelaziz were instrumental to successful completion of the review.
The review was drafted between January 2024 and September 2025, drawing on in-person consultations conducted in May 2024 and virtual meetings over the drafting period. Chapters 1 and 2 focus on assessing the contribution of FDI to the national economy. Some figures use Egypt Economic Census 2017/2018 and the 2024 World Bank Enterprise Survey of Egypt. The two chapters do not evaluate existing strategies, policies, or institutional frameworks. Chapter 3 reflects the policy and reform landscape and does not consider recent policy developments, including recent government strategies or private sector reform initiatives. The report was declassified by the OECD Investment Committee on 28 November 2025.
This review is part of the OECD FDI Qualities Initiative and an output of the EU-OECD Programme on Investment in the Mediterranean. The FDI Qualities Initiative provides governments with the data, tools, and standards to assess the contribution of FDI to sustainable development and identify policies to increase its positive impacts. The EU-OECD Programme on Investment in the Mediterranean supports investment reform efforts that contribute to job creation and sustainable growth in the Middle East and North Africa region. This review builds on the longstanding co-operation between Egypt and the OECD under the MENA-OECD Competitiveness Programme. Egypt is an adherent to the OECD Declaration on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises and has completed an OECD Investment Policy Review in 2019. The FDI Qualities Review of Egypt was financially supported by the European Union.
The review was prepared by Stratos Kamenis and Letizia Montinari of the OECD FDI Qualities and Impact team, Sustainable Investment Unit, Investment Division, Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, and Derek Carnegie, External Consultant, under the supervision of Fares Al-Hussami, Head of FDI Qualities and Impact team. Ana Novik and Martin Wermelinger, Head and Deputy Head of Investment Division, provided overall guidance. Paula Adamczyk, Rania Ampntel Chafiz, Irina Grigoryeva, Clemente Rojas Giacobbe, and Kerstin Schopohl provided substantive inputs. Helene Francois Georgieff, Alessandra Mistura, Fernando Mistura, Joachim Pohl, Ilaria Goretti, Won Hee Cho, and Pablo Shah provided valuable comments. Lucinda Pearson, Communication Officer, prepared the review for publication.