Sahar Nasr told the FII that Egypt was seeking quality investments because its ultimate objective is to promote inclusive and sustainable growth Nasr: We are very happy with the partnership between Saudi Arabia and Egypt especially in real estate and construction RIYADH: Egyptian investment minister Sahar Nasr on Wednesday highlighted growing real estate collaboration with Saudi Arabia as the pair work together on projects such as the $500 billion NEOM. The minister, who is spearheading an inward investment offensive in the Arab world’s most populous nation, told the Future Investment Initiative (FII) in Riyadh that Egypt was seeking “quality investments because at the end of the day our ultimate objective is to promote inclusive and sustainable growth.” “We are very happy with that partnership between the two countries especially in real estate and construction,” she said. “We want to see our region boom.” Saudi Arabia and Egypt are working together on the 26,500 square kilometers NEOM mega project unveiled at last year’s FII event. Egypt committed some 1,000 square kilometers of land in the southern Sinai Peninsula to the project, Reuters reported in March, citing a Saudi official. Riyadh and Cairo have also signed an environmental protocol aimed at preserving coral reefs in the Red Sea. Like Saudi Arabia, Egypt is seeking to modernize its economy by attracting inward investment, introducing economic reforms and rolling back subsidies. The two countries also both have bulging youth populations for which they need to create jobs. “We are very much for creating jobs because it’s one of the main challenges in Egypt and we want to be more export-oriented,” Nasr told a panel at the event on Wednesday. Egypt has been planning a number of initial public offerings this year and next to raise funds and attract futher private sector investment. The country is battling double-digit inflation while introducing tough austerity measures supported by the International Monetary fund.