EXCLUSIVE-Egypt eyes $11 bln FDI in FY 2007-08-Minister

By Daniel Bases and Haitham Haddadin

NEW YORK, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Egypt expects to pull in about $11 billion in foreign direct investment in its current fiscal year, Investment Minister Mahmoud Mohieldin told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

"I think the minimum of this current fiscal year will be very similar to last year -- FDI in dollar terms, and if you relate that to GDP as a ratio. If it is going to be like last year, it is going to be $11 billion," Mohieldin said.

Egypt launched an economic reform platform in July 2004 and in the ensuing three fiscal years has attracted a total of $21 billion in FDI, Mohieldin said.

He was leading a delegation of Egyptian businessmen to meet with investors at the New York Stock Exchange.

Egypt's economy grew in the last two fiscal years ended in June by 6.8 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively, up from 2 or 3 percent, in the years prior.

In response to a question about how much FDI was likely to grow, Mohieldin said: "The plan is driven from the (economic) growth objective, which is that we need to grow no less than 6 percent in order to achieve our development targets."

The targets included lowering the unemployment rate, increasing the standard of living and dealing with the challenges of poverty alleviation in the most populous Arab country, he said.

"We are relying more and more on net FDI. The average is not to be less than the average of the past three years," he said.