CAIRO, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation said Wednesday that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased by 14.5 percent during 2016/2017 fiscal year.

In its annual report, the ministry said private investments increased by 29 percent, newly established companies increased by 26 percent and employment opportunities increased by 10 percent.

According to the report, Upper Egypt's governorates were at the forefront of the Official Development Assistance with 43 percent, followed by urban governorates with 27 percent, then Lower Egypt's governorates with 21 percent and finally frontier governorates with 9 percent.

"The most important activities and accomplishments were reflected in legal and regulatory reforms, topped by the Investment Law which provided for incentives and guarantees for investors, the establishment of new investment zones, settlement of disputes, administrative reforms, and provisions related to corporate social responsibility," the report said.

The ministry intended to boost local private investment to 782 billion Egyptian pounds (44.3 billion U.S. dollars) and increase FDI flows to 22 billion dollars by 2022 and improving Egypt's rank in the Doing Business and Competitiveness reports, the report concluded.

Egypt has witnessed an economic slowdown over the past few years due to political turmoil and relevant security challenges, which led the country's foreign debts to increase by over 42 percent to hit 80.8 billion dollars by the end of September 2017.

The country decided in early November 2016 to fully float the exchange rate of its local currency Egyptian pound to deal with the shortage of dollar reserves and embark on a strict three-year economic reform program that includes fuel and energy subsidy cuts and tax hikes.

The floatation of the Egyptian pound encouraged the International Monetary Fund to support Egypt's economic reform plan by providing a 12-billion-dollar loan, half of which has already been delivered to the country.