The UAE-based international real estate firm, Al-Futtaim Group will be soon signing the final settlement agreement with the Egyptian government over the Cairo Festival City, the General Manager Mohamed El Mikawi said. El Mikwai said he expects the settlement agreement with the Egyptian government is likely to be signed within the few coming days. This comes after Al-Futtaim has hold several rounds of meetings with the Egyptian government resulting in the anticipatory settlement agreement worth nearly EGP 400 million at maximum, he noted. El Mikwai further stated in an interview with 'Amwal Al Ghad' that the settlement agreement will enable the company to resume its expansion plans in Egypt through obtaining the ministerial decrees and detailed charts for the second phase of the administrative buildings. Phase II consists of 5 administrative buildings on the space of 60.000 meter besides 250 apartments and 140 villas in which the total investment cost would reach EGP 500 million, El Mikawi said. Phase II also includes a 4-star hotel with a total investment cost worth EGP 300 million besides the completion of a mall which will be inaugurated next September with a total investment cost worth EGP 3.5 billion. Al-Futtaim's General Manager further told 'Amwal Al Ghad' that the parent company has injected around EGP 5.5 billion in Cairo Festival City Project till last December. Al-Futtaim could not disburse a loan worth EGP 2 billion arranged by a group of banks as it it awaited reaching a settlement agreement with the Egyptian government. This has made the company incur losses of EGP 70 million. Meanwhile, El Mikawi referred the Egyptian government's performance in regard to dealing with the foreign investments as remarkably slow off the mark since the outbreak of January revolution. This remarkable slowness was amid the political turbulence which has made officials in the country lose confidence in adopting any investment decisions as they felt uncertain about any potential repercussions on the country. El Mikawi has concluded by saying Cityscape 2013 in Cairo is an ideal opportunity to active the Egyptian real estate sector through the gathering of a vast number of developers and companies.
