Introducing the SEIC: Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has set up a company to manage its investments in Egypt as it prepares to deploy bns of USD in the country in the coming months, it said in a statement on Thursday. The Saudi Egyptian Investment Company (SEIC) will act as the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) investment arm in Egypt and will help the PIF, its portfolio companies, and the wider Saudi private sector to access the Egyptian market, it said.

The PIF has a lot to invest: The PIF said earlier this year it would invest USD 10 bn in Egypt as part of a Saudi package to support the economy that also saw the country deposit USD 5 bn at the Central Bank of Egypt.

Sectors PIF likes: SEIC is kicking the tires on potential investments in “promising” sectors such as infrastructure, real estate, health care, financial services, food and agriculture, manufacturing and pharma, according to the statement.

Few details on specific targets are known: Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik said in June that the fund could acquire 20% in the new hotels company made up of several merged state-owned hotels.

What they said: “In light of the economic growth in the region, SEIC will capitalize on lucrative investment opportunities within a number of promising Egyptian economic sectors, which will also support the expansion efforts of Saudi businesses and other PIF portfolio companies,” said Yazeed Alhumied, deputy governor and head of PIF MENA investments.

The PIF is only part of the Saudi investment splurge: In June, a number of Saudi companies signed agreements that will see them invest USD 7.7 bn in Egypt. Among the notable projects is a 1.1 GW wind farm that will be built by ACWA Power and Hassan Allam Holding and a USD 3.3 bn agreement for an oil storage facility signed by Ajlan & Bros.

This comes following a recent influx of Gulf investments: We’ve received some USD 7 bn of the more than USD 22 bn pledged by our Gulf neighbors to support our economy, with the remainder expected to come through in coming months.

The news got coverage internationally: Bloomberg.

IN OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS-

Haier to establish a USD 130 mn industrial complex: The government has inked an MoU with the Chinese appliance manufacturer Haier Electric to establish a USD 130 mn industrial complex to produce household appliances, according to a cabinet statement. The 200k sqm Tenth of Ramadan City facility will produce 900k units every year and create 2k jobs, the statement said.

This isn’t Haier’s first rodeo in Egypt: Haier joined forces with Raya Holding last year to establish an EGP 200 mn home appliances factory under the name Haier Raya Electric.