Egypt Earmarks Red Sea Spots in Search of More Tourism Megadeals

Egypt’s government said it earmarked five areas on the Red Sea coastline to offer to investors for tourism development، looking to mirror a Mediterranean megadeal earlier this year that helped it overcome a grueling economic crisis.

The locations will include Ras Banas، a peninsula in southern Egypt sitting across from Saudi Arabia، Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told reporters Thursday. He didn’t identify the other spots، but cited the precedent of February’s $24 billion investment by the United Arab Emirates to develop the Mediterranean headland of Ras El-Hekma.

That deal — which also saw $11 billion in investments elsewhere in Egypt — allowed the North African country to enact a long-awaited currency devaluation and unlock new International Monetary Fund financing، effectively ending two years of economic turmoil. Authorities are now seeking a steady supply of foreign direct investment from sales of state assets.

Madbouly said a $5 billion investment pledge from Saudi Arabia earlier this week would be an injection of new funds، not a conversion of Saudi deposits currently held by Egypt’s central bank. Private companies from the kingdom are also expected to invest up to $15 billion in “the coming period،” he said.