Head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) Mohamed El-Sewedy announced a new project for the establishment of new industrial clusters in under the name of the 1,000 Acres Project in cooperation with the Industrial Development Authority(IDA). El-Sewedy said the initiative aims at allocating at least one industrial acre in every village for different labour-intensive sectors, with allocation of not less than 25 acres in each governorate. In a special statement to Daily News Egypt, El-Sewedy expected that the initial investment for the project is about $1bn and that it will be implemented by industrial developers. In addition, funding will be provided by the World Bank to establish the industrial clusters. El-Sewedy added that the lands will be allocated through the usufruct system for a period of 30 years, and can be extended to 50 years. El-Sewedy noted that the project includes the dedication of 25 acres at most in every governorate and allocation of 1 acre in labour-intensive villages to be divided over 1,500 metres for a clothes factory, expected to create 270 jobs opportunity. Moreover, workshops will be established in different sectors to create over 200 jobs, to reach 470 job opportunities in each governorate. El-Sewedy pointed out that the FEI is working with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to take specific reform measures at the beginning of next year to regulate the trading of the EGP in the markets. El-Sewedy explained that Egypt is one of a few countries in which trading in local currency occurs without any supervision by the state. "These measures will contribute to combatting the financing of terrorism, financing of smuggling and illegal operations, which cause the country great losses in its tax revenues," El-Sewedy said. In addition, the FEI is working on a plan to amend the mechanisms for obtaining factory licences, and amending the Local Government law. Source : Arab finance
