A Comparative Study to Measure The Efficiency of Foreign Direct Investment in Poverty Reduction in Egypt and Some Arab Countries
Abstract: Poverty constitutes one of the main problems in many countries of the world as it is one of the obstacles to development. In recent years, the Arab countries have suffered from a state of political, economic and security crises that have led to low levels of development as a reflection of low and deteriorating incomes, which led to an increase in poverty rates in many countries. Like many countries, Egypt relies on foreign investment to finance its various development programs, where successful development policies depend on the volume of planned investments and the efficiency of the distribution and use of these investments in various fields. Despite the importance of investment, the volume of investment in Egypt remains modest compared to economically developed countries, with international reports indicating that Egypt accounts for about 9 billion dollars of the total inflows of Arab countries estimated at 41 billion dollars in 2019. However, the impact of the influx on the Foreign Investment of Egypt has not clearly reflected on the rate of economic growth, nor has it shown its positive effects on the level of poverty in society. This leads us to question the efficiency of exploiting foreign direct investment in reducing poverty in Egypt compared to some Arab countries, especially with few studies on the relationship between investment and poverty reduction. Hence, the research aims to measure the efficiency of foreign direct investment in Egypt and its impact on reducing poverty rates in Egypt compared to some Arab countries, especially with the small number of studies that dealt with the relationship between investment and poverty reduction. By applying the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The results showed that the UAE achieved zero poor people in 2019, while the percentage of poor in Egypt was 29.7, compared to 12.7 in Saudi Arabia, and 17.1% in Morocco. While the percentage exceeded more than 40% in Jordan, Palestine, Sudan, Mauritania, Somalia and Comoros. It is a percentage that indicates the concentration of poverty in the Arab countries, despite their capabilities and material and human resources. The results of the DEA showed that Algeria is the country in which the flow of foreign direct investment is most compatible with poverty rates, as it suffers from a decrease in the per capita share of foreign investment to about 28 $ / per capita and a rise in the poverty rate by 28%, while the rest of the countries, especially Egypt, Which attracts greater proportions of the flow of foreign investment to the Arab region, has achieved low efficiency rates, as Egypt, which is the second country in the acquisition of foreign investment in 2019, achieved an efficiency rate of about 37% compared to Morocco, which acquires about 4% of direct foreign investment in the Arab region, with an average of An individual's share was estimated at 45 $/ per capita, with an efficiency rate of 43%. Which shows that these countries achieve better economic performance in the exploitation of foreign investments directed to them, which indicates the existence of a real problem in the Egyptian investment policies in terms of the ability to exploit the foreign direct investment acquired by them to increase the rate of economic growth and thus alleviate poverty in society. Hence, the research recommends the need for optimal exploitation of foreign investment flows through the establishment of productive and development projects because of the investment's ability to reduce poverty rates, benefiting from Arab experiences in the efficient exploitation of investments, and the need for coordination between investment policies and labor market policies.
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Publication year 2021
Availability location https://ejar.journals.ekb.eg/article_210153.html
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Organization Name
City الجيزة
serial title المجلة المصرية للبحوث الزراعية
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ISSN ISSN: 2812-4936
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Publication Type Journal
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