Leading businessmen from Saudi Arabia plan to invest about E£1 billion ($130.6 million) into Egypt for the implementation of key real estate projects in new cities, said a report.

They will be signing memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Egypt's Ministry of Housing in this connection during the Economic Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh this month, reported the Daily News Egypt.

"The real estate sector in Egypt is strong and a great candidate to acquire a large amount of investments between Saudi Arabia and Egypt during the summit," stated Housing Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

The projects will make their debut at the upcoming summit, and will have an increasing interest from investors, especially Saudi and GCC investors who tend to invest in the Egyptian real estate market.

Welcoming the Saudi investment, Madbouly said the real estate sector played a major role in economic and social development, contributing to 70 feeder industries and providing thousands of jobs.

Madbouly pointed out that Egypt’s real estate prices remained lower than the rest of the Arab world.

"The good real estate sector value provides a margin of significant profit to the investors, especially in light of the growing need for housing market in Egypt," he said.

The number of real estate units being built annually are estimated at 250,000 units, while the demand is estimated at 600,000 units, the minister added.