Egypt's IPR was issued in 1999 and formulated recommendations on how to improve the country's investment framework, investment promotion efforts and strategies to attract and benefit from FDI.

At the time of the review, Egypt had the potential to attract FDI of higher quantity and quality, commensurate with the fundamental strengths and opportunities that its economy offered. These strengths included a large domestic market, a wide industrial base, a skilled and competitively priced workforce and a strategic location in the region.

In 2005, the Government of Egypt invited UNCTAD to assess the extent to which the IPR recommendations had been implemented. In summary, the key findings of the report on the implementation of the IPR are:

• on the investment framework, the majority of the policy recommendations have been implemented, in some cases reforms have surpassed expectations
• on investment promotion, the recommendation has been adopted to transform GAFI, Egypt's investment agency, from a regulator to an investment promoter and facilitator
• FDI performance has been weak over the period even taking into account external factors such as the Asian financial crisis and the recent slowdown in global FDI inflows. Egypt's FDI data is unreliable and may understate FDI inflows

Since the launching of the IPR process, UNCTAD has assisted the Government with training of diplomats on investment trends, policies and promotion. It also provided assistance to staff dealing with FDI statistics and with international investment agreements.

Other reports: Report on the Implementation of the Investment Policy Review: Egypt