Inter-Arab investments totaled $2.447 billion last year, up 34.6 percent from the $1.817 billion recorded in 2000. The region’s top six capital recipients—Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt—accounted for nearly 90 percent of the total inter-Arab investment in 2001, according to a recently released Inter-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation (IAIGC) report.
Of the 13 Arab countries covered by the report, Saudi Arabia was the largest recipient of Arab investments during the year 2001, drawing $721.2 million capital, up a staggering 839 percent over the previous year, when only $76.8 million were pumped into the kingdom.
Arab investments in Lebanon dropped 35.7 percent in 2001, reaching $225 million. This compares to $350 million invested in 2000 and $500 million in 1999. The largest Arab investor country in the Lebanese economy was Saudi Arabia, with $90 million, while the Kuwaitis accounted for $68 million worth of investments, followed by Emirati, Syrian and Qatari funds.
While Lebanon ranked fourth in terms of Arab capital inflow, accounting for 9.2 percent of the aggregated total inter-Arab investment in 2001, Lebanese investments in Arab countries totaled $103.8 million—placing it as the tenth largest Arab investor in the region.
Arab investments in Syria totaled $43.5 million in 2001, up 400 percent from the $8.7 million capital arriving in 2000. Kuwaiti investments accounted for 62 percent of the total, followed by Jordan with 13.8 percent, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya and Sudan.
Syria was ranked the 10th largest recipient of Arab capital, accounting for 1.78 percent of aggregate inter-Arab investments last year. At the same time, Syrian investments in Arab countries totaled $305.3 million in 2001, or 12.5 percent of aggregate inter-Arab investments. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
