Egypt's Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD) says it executed a number of utilities works in the first phase of the new capital, at a cost of 140 billion Egyptian pounds ($7.8 billion). "We are currently establishing the new capital's ministerial district from our budget," ACUD's chairman Ahmed Zaki Abdeen said on Sunday. ACUD is the owner and developer for the new capital project, which is located 45km (28 miles) east of Cairo of on a total area of 170,000 feddans. The state-owned company's shareholders; Egyptian government's New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), National Service Products Organization (NSPO), and Armed Forces National Lands Projects Agency. The under-construction new capital city is part of the Egyptian government's plan to expand urban areas to deal with the state's rapid population growth and improve the nation's infrastructure. The new city is set to be a 270-square-mile hub with 21 residential districts to accommodate five million people. It will feature 1,250 mosques and churches as well as 5,000-seat conference centre, nearly 2,000 schools and colleges, over 600 medical facilities, and a park that is projected to be the world's largest.
