Alam El-Roum Draws an Estimated 40% of First-Phase Buyers From Outside Egypt
Buyers from outside Egypt made an estimated 40% of first-phase purchases at Alam El-Roum, Qatari Diar’s Mediterranean project, Egypt’s investment minister told the Qatar News Agency on 29 October.
For Egypt, the figure moves the Alam El-Roum story from the land deal to the buyers. The $3.5 billion paid for the land came in during October to December 2025. In The Edge’s reading, the share points to demand for the project beyond the domestic market: if buyers from outside Egypt keep taking an estimated two in five units and pay in foreign currency, the project could give the coast a second source of hard currency, one that recurs with each phase.
Mohamed Farid Saleh, the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, gave the interview in Doha on the sidelines of the “Global Perspectives: In Doha” event. He said the project covers the development of the whole area, not only the purchase of the land, and that the first phase recorded “robust commercial demand”.
He said taking part in the Cityscape property exhibition gave a chance to review the project’s execution phases. He described his meetings with public and private sector leaders in Doha as highly positive, reflecting a shared push to scale up joint investment and link industrial supply chains. He closed the interview on tourism, pointing to investment in prime coastal destinations.
Buyers from outside Egypt add to a payment already in the data
The minister put the cash invested to acquire the land at an estimated $3.5 billion, the amount the Central Bank of Egypt records as inflows under the deal. That payment and the bank’s figures for fiscal 2025/26 were set out earlier on these pages.
He gave no number of units or sales value for the first phase. He also did not say whether buyers from outside Egypt were counted by nationality or by residence, or in which currency they paid.
The central bank’s nearest measure is investment for real-estate purchases by non-residents, which brought $2.8 billion in fiscal 2025/26. The two measures differ. The minister’s share counts unit purchases at one project in its first phase; the bank’s line covers every property bought by non-residents across Egypt in a fiscal year that ended in June.
The bank counted the Alam El-Roum tranche with new-company investment and capital increases; outside it, that line came to less than the $5.5 billion of 2024/25.
Qatari Diar markets the site near Marsa Matrouh on its reach: it is 15 minutes from the city’s international airport. It is also within a flight of 2 to 5 hours from Europe and the GCC. Its chief executive, Sheikh Hamad Bin Talal Al-Thani, said in August that the aim is a city that operates year-round and is not limited to being a tourist resort.
Cairo opens an investment zone and plans a desk for Qatari investors
On 18 October the minister attended the opening of the Alam El-Roum investment zone with Housing Minister Randa El-Menshawy and Qatari Diar’s vice chairman, the Cabinet said. He said such zones speed up procedures and project delivery and create jobs in the surrounding communities.
At the same event he said the private sector’s share of total investment in Egypt had risen to an estimated 65% in the third quarter of fiscal 2025/26. He compared that with a share of 40% to 45%. He said growth of 5.5% to 6.5% in the coming years would need a higher investment rate. He put that rate at an estimated 25% of GDP.
Meeting the Qatari Businessmen Association in Doha on 28 October, the minister announced plans to establish a dedicated department for Qatari investors within his ministry, QNA reported. It is to ease their procedures, follow up their projects and give detailed information on available land and projects.
Figures are from the Qatar News Agency, the Central Bank of Egypt, Qatari Diar and the Egyptian Cabinet; comparisons not attributed to a source are The Edge’s calculations.
Primary source: Qatar News Agency, interview with Egypt’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, English and Arabic, 29 October 2026; Central Bank of Egypt, balance of payments press release for fiscal 2025/26, October 2026.
Sources: Qatar News Agency, Central Bank of Egypt, Qatari Diar, Egyptian Cabinet, The Edge.
