The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia has agreed to begin examining several investment opportunities in Egypt, a senior government official said.

Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr urged Saudi Arabia to expedite investments in energy, housing, and tourism sectors, according to a Daily News Egypt report, which cited a ministry statement.

Egypt urged Saudi Arabia to start investing a pledged SR30 billion ($8 billion) at a meeting of the Egyptian-Saudi Coordination Council that is concluding today (January 6) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the report said.

The Saudi investment funds chose to invest SR30 million ($8 billion) in the fields of housing, tourism, agriculture, and energy over the next five years.

Nasr discussed cooperation with the Saudi fund officials to provide Egypt with petroleum derivatives for five years and to pump investments, according to the report.

She also discussed the possibility of contributing to financing several development projects in Egypt aiming to counter poverty and unemployment by providing concessional funding for youth and providing lands to establish agro-industrial projects as part of the 1.5-million-acres project.

Nasr said the Egyptian government is working on creating an attractive environment for investment by providing incentives and guarantees and by removing some of the obstacles facing investors.

The Ministry of Housing is offering 22 projects for investment to Saudi Arabia. The projects include the new administrative capital and the eight new cities prepared by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA).

NUCA completed processing project sites, which will be promoted in Saudi Arabia, and prepared detailed plans linking lands with facilities.