The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) issued 181 approvals to establish new industrial investment projects at a cost of up to 12.7 billion Egyptian pounds (US$ 1.6 billion) in November 2015. The projects will provide more than 10,000 new jobs inside and outside the project industrial zones and will be distributed in eight industrial sectors. The engineering industry ranked first with 47 planned projects, followed by the food industries sector with 46 projects, and the chemical sector with 40 projects. Textile production ranked fourth with 27 projects, nine in power projects, eight projects in the mining sector, three projects in mineral sector, and only one in the leather sector. The IDA's report said these approvals would be implemented across 20 governorates. Menoufia ranked first with 35 projects, Sharqia with 23 projects, followed by Cairo and Giza with 15 projects each, Alexandria with 15, Sohag and Gharbiya with 12 each, and Qalioubia and Beheira with ten projects each. In addition to the nine projects in Minya, there are six projects in Beni Suef, five projects in Dakahlia, four projects in Assiut, three projects in the New Valley, Aswan and Kafr El-Sheikh with two each, and Ismailia, Matrouh, and the Red sea with only one each. Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade Tarek Qabil said the industrial development indicators for this month reflect the demand of local and foreign investors for industrial activities and their trust in the sector. Qabil said there are five projects that proved their seriousness to obtain industrial record, including four projects in Assiut and one project in Sohag. Four projects cancelled their allocation including a project in Assiut and three in Sohag. The minister said that five projects were given a time limit, including two projects in Assiut and three projects in Sohag. He said 80 investors obtained the approvals to expand their projects at an investment cost of EGP 5.8bn inside and outside the industrial zones during November and provided 5,920 jobs compared to the 83 approvals with an investment cost of up to EGP 3bn and 6,950 jobs in the same month 2014. With regard to the deepening of local manufacturing and transfer of advanced technology to promote the industrial sector, IDA head Ismail Gaber said facilities have been provided for a number of companies. Gaber said these facilities are in the form of tariff reductions. 37 companies received 219 custom reductions in November compared to the 48 companies who received 293 custom reductions over the same month in 2014. The expansion includes nine industrial sectors: the food industries ranked first with 26 projects, followed by basic chemicals with 18 projects, and textile and engineering industries with 11 projects each. There are seven projects for the power sector, three projects in mineral, two in leather, and one project for the mining and pharmaceutical sectors each. Source: Daily News Egypt
