Egypt Receives Part of the Funds from UAE Deal, President Says

FILE — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi poses for a picture at the presidential palace in Cairo, on January 30, 2023.

DUBAI — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday said part of the funds announced in the deal between his country and the United Arab Emirates to develop the Ras al-Hikma real estate project have arrived in the central bank.

Egypt signed a deal on Friday with the UAE to develop a peninsula on its north coast and carry out other projects. The North African nation’s prime minister said the deal would bring $35 billion in investments to the indebted country over the next two months.

"I want to thank our brothers in the UAE, led by my brother his Excellency the President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed," Sisi said while attending a "Differently Abled" event in New Cairo.

"I want to tell you it is not easy for anyone to deposit $35 billion over two months, there is nothing like that in the world … This is a form of support and standing (with us), clearly," the Egyptian president added.

Under the deal announced on Friday ADQ, the smallest of Abu Dhabi's three main sovereign investment funds, said work would begin in early 2025 to build a "next generation city" over 170 square kilometers at Ras El Hekma on Egypt's Mediterranean coast.

Speaking with reference to the project, Sisi said "we are not talking about just two, three or four months in the winter of the summer, we are talking about something that has life all year round, with many activities, some of which will be in Egypt for the first time."

Ras El Hekma lies about 200 kilometers west of Alexandria in an area of upscale tourist resorts and white sand beaches.