CAIRO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed a deal on Friday to build a new city on Egypt's northern coast, with the aim of boosting tourism, investment and foreign currency reserves.
The agreement, signed by Egypt's Housing Minister Assem El-Gazzar and UAE's Investment Minister Mohamed Al Suwaidi at Egypt's New Administrative Capital, will develop Ras Al-Hekma, a 170-square-kilometer area west of Alexandria.
Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who attended the signing, said the project would be carried out by Egypt's New Urban Communities Authority and Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company, and would inject 35 billion U.S. dollars of foreign direct investment into the economy in two months.
"This is the largest amount of FDI in the history of the country," Madbouly said, adding that the deal was the start of several investment agreements that the government was working on to increase foreign currency sources.
He also said the UAE side would invest at least 150 billion dollars throughout the project, which he expected to draw 8 million tourists when completed.
The deal comes as Egypt is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for a new loan to support the country's economy.
