Egypt's Industrial Development Authority (IDA) granted 144 final approvals to establish new projects inside and outside industrial zones with investment cost of 1.8 Egyptian billion pounds (US$202.7 million) in July 2016. Industry Minister Tarek Qabil stated Friday that IDA gave approvals for 91 projects in July 2015 with investments estimated at 1.9 billion pounds. He noted that latest report by the IDA showed that the approvals were given for eight different sectors notably; food industries (46 approvals), engineering industries (45 approvals), textiles (19 approvals), chemicals (18 approvals), metal industries (6 approvals). The report discussed industrial sector indicators during July 2016 in comparison to the same month of 2015. According to the report, the granted approvals were divided over 20 governorates; Al Sharqia (27 approvals), Giza (21 approvals), Cairo (19 approvals), Qalyubia (12 approvals), Gharbia (11 approvals), Monufia (10 approvals), and Alexandria (9 approvals). Qabil noted that industrial investment climate in Egypt improved in July 2016 due to the procedures adopted by the ministry within the last period to encourage industrial investment, attract more foreign investments , and removing obstacles facing foreign investments. He noted that all industrial zones and areas as well as governorates benefited from those procedures that included new and expansionary projects in different industrial sectors.
