Egyptian industry ministry targets raising the volume of industrial land plots issued to investors to around 10 million metres by the end of 2016, minister Tarek Qabil stated Monday. He added that boosting investments rates and industrial exports are the main priorities in ministry's strategy for the current and upcoming periods. The ministry exerts efforts to create encouraging legislative environment to attract more local and foreign investments into the Egyptian market, Qabil said. The minister made these remarks during his meeting with the 28 newly-appointed ambassadors who are charged with heading Egypt's diplomatic missions abroad. He noted that the ministry has started executing its strategy to issue more land plots for investors as it issued around 3.5 million square meters within the last period. The ministry also took some steps to facilitate procedures related to getting licences in addition to providing well-trained labour. Qabil added that Africa is one of the important markets that are included among ministry's plan for Egyptian exports as pursuant to the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) agreement. The agreement was signed between Egypt and Africa's three largest regional economic communities; Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Minister Qabil clarified that the ministry plans strengthening local industry and focusing on manufacturing instead of assembling through raising the amount of Egyptian component in the locally-manufactured products. He added that Egypt owns high-quality products that could compete in both local and foreign markets. Moreover, the minister pointed out that a number of sectors witnessed an ongoing growth within the last period notably construction, building, and communication sectors. This growth participated in boosting economic growth rates.
