KUWAIT, 23rd June, 2022 (WAM/KUNA) -- The United Arab Emirates has received a 41 percent share of foreign direct investment projects Arab countries attracted between 2003 and 2021.

According to the Arab Investment Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman), Arab countries have attracted 14,443 foreign projects with a total capex of US$1.3 trillion over the last 19 years.

The corporation said in its 37th annual report on the investment climate in Arab countries for 2022, issued today, that the number of foreign direct investment projects into the region rose by 37 percent and their capex hiked by one percent, between 2003 and 2021.

The Kuwait-based corporation added that these projects have created approximately two million job opportunities.

It revealed an improvement in the setting of Arab countries in the majority of international indicators pertinent to the investment climate during 2021, which positively reflected on foreign direct investment projects in the region during 2021.

The corporation's Director-General Abdullah Al-Sabeeh was quoted by the report as saying that the final result of changes in Arab settings in international indicators have positively reflected on foreign direct investments into the region amid expectations of continuing growth during 2022.

He added that the number of foreign projects into the region rose by 15 percent, while their capex hiked by 86 percent to US$21 billion during the first quarter of this year, compared with the same period of 2021.

He pointed out that Western Europe was the main investor in the region during 2021, while Saudi Arabia was the top investment destination in view of the capex (US$9.3 billion), while the UAE came first in terms of the number of projects (455).

The Arab Investment Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (Dhaman) is a pioneer multinational organisation that provides guarantee services against commercial and non-commercial risks.

Established in April 1974 in Kuwait as the first multilateral investment guarantee provider in the world, Dhaman is owned by the governments of Arab states and four Arab financial institutions.