The API believes that the development of the private sector in general, and micro, small and medium enterprises in particular, requires finding solutions to the many challenges facing the private sector and its development. In order to encourage young people to engage in self-employment and invest in the SMEs, and in income-generating activities, it is necessary to provide a set of feasible and viable investment ideas that express real investment opportunities, with an emphasis on their capacity to generate value-added, exports and job creation. On the other hand, it is necessary to work on the empowerment of entrepreneurs and prepare them to do business and carry out all the phases of the project, and this must be accompanied by an appropriate investment environment and an infrastructure that facilitates the business and investment process.
From this point of view, API was keen to provide all forms of technical and institutional support to help countries identify a list of viable investment opportunities, by developing a practical and comprehensive methodology for the preparation of investment map, which became an effective tool in the field of stimulating and promoting local and foreign investors of all sizes. Therefore, investment maps are considered a versatile development tool that supports efforts to develop SMEs, encourages and promotes local and foreign investment, helps create self-employment, reduces the risks expected by some investors, and helps correct structural imbalances in the investment and production structure. The idea of the investment maps is based on identifying promising and leading sectors, studying the economic clusters associated with these core sectors and analysing and identifying value chains gaps in a way that new investment opportunities help to fill existing gaps in the market. Throughout this methodology, API provides clear and justified list of investment opportunities, in addition to all the prerequisites for the successful process of transforming these ideas and opportunities into real projects on the ground. The investment maps determine the economic, national and financial feasibility of the list of projects listed, as well as their geographical distribution.
The investment maps prepared by the API are of great impact due to the nature of the objectives for which they are prepared. Their importance also derives from their role in diversifying the productive base and directing high value-added investments, both local and foreign, towards the creation of economic activities.