Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr says that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has directed the government to pave the way for the private sector to participate in establishing social housing units. Nasr made her statements during a meeting with a delegation of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) on Tuesday, chaired by the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of the UN-Habitat Victor Kisob. Nasr asserted that Egypt's government is looking forward to more private sector participation in housing, adding that the government puts investment in human capital at the top of its priorities, especially housing projects, and that the investment ministry is working with international corporations to provide funding. Under the umbrella of its Sustainable Development Vision 2030, Egypt has adopted the largest project in its history focusing on establishing 725 housing units over six years in all governorates and cities, with a subsidy between EGP 5,000 up to EGP 25,000, according to the ministry of housing, utilities, and urban communities data. So far, 345 housing units have been built. "Egypt's government has made significant efforts to increase investments in the real estate sector through legislative reforms and stimulating real estate financing, in addition to supporting consumer demands on housing units. The government continues its legislative reforms to increase private sector investments in real-estate sector which will improve social standards of poor and medium classes," according to Nasr. Nasr invited the UN-Habitat delegation to visit Egypt's national projects, which are implemented in accordance with top international standards and are established with a solid infrastructure. Meanwhile, Kisob explained that UN-Habitat's visit to Egypt is part of the annual consultations meetings of the donor corporations of the UN-Habitat. "Egypt will benefit from the UN experiences through the Global Land Tool Network that has been established to introduce smart solutions for land governance, involving more than 75 partners in several sectors globally, nationally, and regionally."
