Privatization attracts foreign direct investment in Middle East

Middle Eastern countries that dismantle economic controls are attracting foreign direct investment and creating prosperity, a senior US Commerce Department official says.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce Molly Williamson said Dubai, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt and Israel are strengthening their economies because their governments have adopted policies that make it possible for foreign investors to establish businesses connected to the global trading system.

Williamson said that Egypt's economic liberalization policies have attracted investment from high technology companies of northern Virginia and resulted in the formation of more than 40 Internet service providers in Egypt.

"With the help of foreign investment, Egypt has established a computer assembly industry that accounts for three-fourths of all the computers sold in Egypt," she said.