(MENAFN- The Peninsula) FDI outflows from Arab Countries witnessed a leap of 96 percent, jumping from $14.5bn to $28.4bn. The Arab investment outflows constituted 1.9 percent of the global total of $1.47 trillion and 7.5 percent of developing countries' total $378bn, according to an updated data released by Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation.
Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE represented the main sources of the region's outflows with 86.2 percent in 2015. The UAE came in the first place with investments worth $9.3bn and a stake of 33 percent. It was followed by Saudi Arabia with $5.5bn representing 19.7 percent, while Kuwait ranked third on the Arab level with $5.4bn and a stake of 19.3 percent.
Qatar came in the fourth place with $4bn and a stake of 14.3 percent, followed by Libya ($864m) accounting for 3.1 percent and Oman ($855m) and Morocco($649m). The remaining contries lagged behind with small figures. No outflows have been detected in Algeria, Djibouti, Sudan, Syria and Somalia.
As for the outward FDI balances from Arab countries, the value amounted to $298.5bn by the end of 2015, representing 1.2 percent of the global total of $25trillion.
The UAE topped Arab countries with $87.4bn and a stake of 29.3 percent, followed by KSA with $63.3bn and a stake of 21.2 percent. Qatar ranked third with $43.3bn and a stake of 14.5 percent, followed by Kuwait ($31.6bn) and a share of 10.6 percent, Libya ($20.2bn) and a share of 6.8 percent, and Bahrain with $14.6bn and a share of 4.9 percent.
Inward FDI flows leapt by 38 percent to $1.76trillion in 2015, mainly driven by huge rise in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. According to the latest statistics included in the 2016 World Investment Report, inward FDI flows in developing countries increased by 9.6 percent to $765bn.
However, their share of global flows declined to less than the half compared with the past years, representing 43.4 percent of the global flows. Inflows to Asian countries, especially East and South-East Asia, increased by 17 percent on average rising to $448bn in 2015.
According to the numbers extracted by the Arab Investment & Export Credit Guarantee Corporation , the total cost of inter-Arab investment projects for the period between 2003 and April 2016 stands at more than $310bn, $60bn less than the $370bn recorded at the end of April 2015, a decline of 16.2 percent.
This regression in inter-Arab investment balances is due to the huge decline in investment balances in many Arab countries. These include Tunisia from around $21.6bn to $15.8bn, a decline of $5.8bn, Algeria from around $16.1bn to $10.7bn, a decline of $ 5.4bn and Egypt fell from $99.3bn to an approximately $68.9bn. While Iraq fell from around $35bn to around $20.9bn, Qatar's figures declined from $23bn to $12.3bn.
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