KUWAIT, June 30 (KUNA) -- Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Arab nations fell by 0.34 percent to USD 31.2 billion in 2018, as compared to the previous year, according to a top investment and export credit provider.
The Arab region has dropped to the fifth spot in terms of geographic location on a Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index ranking, the Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation said in its annual report released on Sunday.
Gulf countries were seen as the most attractive investment destinations in the Arab region, the report cited the company's director general Abdullah Al-Sabeeh as saying.
He revealed that the UAE, Egypt and Oman were the top three Arab nations to lure the most foreign direct investment, with collective investment worth 68.5 percent.
Data on Arab nations' FDI inflows shows that it had risen by 27.4 percent to reach USD 47.8 billion in 2018, which accounts for a 2.7 percent share out of the global value of USD 101.4 billion.
On a related note, some 876 foreign investment projects worth USD 83.5 billion were carried out in Arab countries last year, subsequently creating a staggering 134.2 job opportunities in the region.
The company promotes the flow of FDI into Arab countries through providing political risk insurance to Arab and foreign investors as well as lenders. (end) mka.nam