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Sisi rounds off final day of investment conference | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Surrounded by young conference organizers, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi speaks during the final day of Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) that has injected billions of dollars’ worth of aid and investment into his country, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on March 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)


Surrounded by young conference organizers, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi speaks during the final day of the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) that has injected billions of dollars' worth of aid and investment into his country, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on March 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Surrounded by young conference organizers, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi speaks during the final day of the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) that has injected billions of dollars' worth of aid and investment into his country, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, on March 15, 2015. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Sharm El-Sheikh, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Sunday wrapped up the Egypt Economic Development Conference (EEDC) which garnered total investments of 175.2 billion US dollars in three days, but said his country needed at least another “200–300 billion dollars” in order to truly rebuild.

Giving the closing speech on the final day of the conference, which was being held in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, Sisi thanked the countries, companies and individuals who attended the conference, and promised to work to fulfil the promises made during the event.

He also made special mention of Egypt’s Gulf partners Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain, who have all had a large presence at the conference.

Surrounded by some of the young organizers of the conference, Sisi also expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia’s late King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz who initially suggested the idea for an economic conference to encourage investment in Egypt.

“Such ideas stay with us on the long-term and serve humanity. [King Abdullah’s] idea is still alive, and the Egyptian people will never forget it,” Sisi said.

Some of the deals signed during the conference include a 10.5 billion dollar agreement with German industrial giant Siemens to build a 4.4-gigawatt power plant in the country to help boost Egypt’s electricity-generating capacity.

Egypt has been buckling under the strain of a mismanaged energy sector, with frequent blackouts occurring during the peak summer months.

Meanwhile, Capital City Partners, a group of investors led by Mohamed Alabbar, the chairman of Dubai real-estate giant Emaar Properties, signed a deal with Egypt’s Housing Ministry to build a brand new administrative capital east of Cairo, at a cost of 45 billion dollars.

It is hoped the new city, which should accommodate 7 million residents, will relieve pressure from the current capital Cairo, which must currently contend with almost 20 million inhabitants, a figure set to double by 2050.

Another major deal saw British oil and gas giant BP signing a 12 billion dollar agreement to help develop Egypt’s oil and gas resources, previously a strong source of income for the country but which, like the energy sector, has been blighted by years of mismanagement.

“Egypt is back, and has awakened once again,” Sisi told attendees at the conference’s closing session, to rapturous applause.

The Egyptian administration has been hoping to rebrand its global image and show investors and business leaders from around the world that it is “open for business” once again after four years of unrest.

“Investors came to this conference for the Egyptian people. The events taking place at this conference were a message to the entire world,” Sisi said.

He added that he had received an invitation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to visit Berlin and confirmed he would be doing so in the near future, thanking Merkel and the German presence at the conference.

Following talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shokri on Sunday, US Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Egypt on the conference, which he said had been a great success.