Leading Dubai retail developer Majid Al-Futtaim (MAF) will expand its investments in Egypt by around LE16.5 billion ($2.3 billion) over the next five years, the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Trade, Industry and Investment said on Sunday. According to the statement, the company intends to build four shopping malls in Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, a project worth LE11.3 billion ($1.6 billion) which will create roughly 38,000 job opportunities. The plan also includes establishing 32 hypermarkets in Egypt, worth LE5.2 billion ($0.7 billion) and providing 4,500 jobs. In an attempt to recover foreign investors' trust, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Trade, Industry and Investments Mounir Fakhry Abdel-Nour told Majid Al-Futtaim's chairman on Sunday that the newly-sworn-in cabinet is keen on easing the bureaucratic hurdles that investors face. The company started its business in Egypt in 1998 with accumulative investments worth LE2.5 billion ($0.36 billion). Its trading results for the first half of 2013 hit $3 billion, a 10 percent rise compared to the same period in 2012. Majid Al-Futtaim, with total assets valued at over $10.6 billion, announced in May 2013 its full ownership of the Carrefour franchise in the MENA region, after already having purchased a 25 percent minority stake in the renowned worldwide retailer. The company stated that the acquisition was worth $682.6 million. http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/96286.aspx
