Foreign direct investment in Saudi Arabia bounces back

Saudi Arabia appears to be rebounding from a slowdown in foreign investment that has strained government budgets and forced cuts in some of the kingdom’s most ambitious construction projects.

First-quarter figures released on Sunday showed that inflows of foreign direct investment reached $6.4 billion, a 24% jump from the same period in 2024 and the best start to a year since 2022.

Saudi Arabia has been prodding trade partners to invest more heavily in the kingdom amid low oil prices that have led to growing budget deficits.

Slowing FDI over the past three years is enabling the UAE to overtake Saudi Arabia this year in the value of awarded construction projects, Bloomberg reports, citing data provided by the Middle East Economic Digest.

Halfway through 2025, the UAE has approved an estimated $31 billion in contracts, compared to Saudi Arabia’s $20.6 billion. If the trend continues, it will be the first time the UAE comes out ahead in awarded contracts since 2018.

Egypt comes out with billions in deals from European summit

Egypt emerged from its weekend huddle with the European Union holding signed agreements for billions of dollars in business deals ranging from construction projects to renewable energy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the Egypt-EU Investment Conference outside Cairo on Saturday that deals potentially worth over 40 billion euros ($43 billion) were being negotiated with Egyptian partners.

Among them were agreements on four green ammonia projects including an $11 billion deal with Frankfurt-based DAI Infrastruktur.

The Sovereign Fund of Egypt also signed a deal with BP, UAE’s Masdar, Egyptian infrastructure company Hassan Allam Utilities and Infinity Power to invest in a green ammonia plant in Ain Sukhna Port on the western coast of the Gulf of Suez.

EU officials said they would move ahead with plans to invest up to 1 billion euros  in the Egyptian economy, the first tranche of a 7.4 billion-euro European aid package agreed upon in March.