AFP: Arab Spring sparks sharp fall in foreign investment

The flow of foreign direct investment into the Arab world is expected to slump by 17 percent in 2011, with countries that saw popular uprisings worst hit, a pan-Arab organisation said on Tuesday.

FDI inflows into 21 Arab nations are forecast to fall to $55.1 billion this year compared to $66.2 billion in 2010, the Kuwait-based Arab Investment and Export Credit Guarantee Corp. said in a report.

Egypt, where mass protests overthrew President Hosni Mubarak in February, is expected to experience the biggest drop from $6.4 billion last year to a mere $500 million in 2011, a 92-percent slide, the report said.

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