Billionaire Saudi prince to invest about $800 million in Egypt

[August 07, 2017]  CAIRO (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed bin Talal will invest about $800 million to expand the Four Seasons resort in Sharm el-Sheikh, in partnership with Talaat Moustafa Holding Group, Egypt's Investment Minister Sahar Nasr said on Monday.

Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal arrives at the Elysee palace in Paris, France, to attend a meeting with French President, September 8 , 2016. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer

Billionaire Alwaleed's investment will also include establishing two new hotels in al-Alamein, a town on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, and Madinaty, a residential compound east of Cairo, Nasr said in a statement.

Alwaleed owns about 40 hotels and resorts in Egypt, in addition to 18 others that are still under construction.

In June, Egypt passed a long-delayed investment law that aims to make doing business there easier and lure back investors after years of turmoil following a political uprising in 2011.

Egypt floated its pound currency in November and is making economic reforms under a three-year $12 billion International Monetary Fund program in an effort to restore capital flows after the uprising drove away investors and tourists.

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Amina Ismail; Editing by Catherine Evans)

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