MAF to invest $2.3bn in Egypt

Dubai retail group Majid Al Futtaim plans to invest about $2.3 billion in Egypt over the next few years, its chief executive said on Wednesday, in a sign of Gulf investors' growing interest in the Egyptian economy.

"Total investments on the plan, including Carrefour, should be around 16 billion Egyptian pounds over the next four to five years," Iyad Malas told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

MAF, the sole franchisee of Carrefour hypermarkets in the Middle East, will expand one of its shopping malls in Cairo's Maadi district at a cost of 3.2 billion pounds, and begin construction next week of another mall next to Cairo's main airport that will cost a similar amount, Malas said.

In addition, the company expects to complete construction of its 'Mall of Egypt' project near Cairo by the end of 2015 at a cost of 4.9 billion pounds, while the Carrefour operation plans further investments, he said.

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