Egyptian Trade and Industry Ministry is set to announce regulations on allocating land plots in Upper Egypt for free this week, official sources at the ministry told Amwal Al Ghad Sunday. Early November, Egypt's Supreme Council for Investments approved the allocation of industrial lands in Upper Egypt free of charge to serious investors, in accordance with the regulations and requirements set by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) and according to the State Investment Map. In its first meeting, the council approved around 17 resolutions including: exempting agricultural land reclamation projects producing essential crops which are currently imported or crops which are destined for export from income tax, as well as exempting the new agricultural and industrial investment in the Upper Egypt from income tax for a period of five years from the date of land allocation. The council also approved exempting the new projects producing strategic goods which are currently imported or goods which are destined for export from income tax for a period of five years beside granting a 35% discount on the price of land determined by the Higher Committee for Public Land Recovery for a two-month period ending in December 2016. The sources added that the ministry is currently studying the influences of liberalising exchange rate decision on the cost of industrial lands. According to the sources, the IDA is set to issue 750,000 square metres in the industrial zone at Badr City before the end of November at the prices of 545 pounds per a square metre . The 750,000 m2 are dedicated for establishing a number of industrial projects in fields of textiles, weaving, and engineering industries. The IDA issued around 6 million square metres of industrial lands for investors since the beginning of 2016 until September 2016 among the strategy of industry ministry aiming at issuing 10 million square metres before the end of 2016.
