Egypt’s General Authority for Investment (GAFI), the country’s foreign investment facilitator and regulator, will now be under the direct supervision of the Council of Ministers, Egypt's governing cabinet.

Responsibility for GAFI has moved around during the recent turmoil in the country which brought about the overthrow of the regime of president Hosni Mubarak. Initially it reported to the Ministry of Investment, and was then moved to the Ministry of Trade and Industry when investment minister Mahmoud Mohieldin moved to the World Bank.

While it is not clear why this move was made or how it benefits GAFI and investors, chairman Osama Saleh said the change demonstrated the government’s determination to put the economy first.

He emphasised Egypt was still an attractive FDI destination, citing inflows of $6.8bn in 2010 and a recent move by the Intel Corporation to acquire the assets of Egyptian software firm SySDSoft.