Development project aims to encourage private sector investment in industrial zones across the country (DNE archive photo) The Industrial Development Authority launched a project to develop new industrial areas in Egypt. The areas will be contracted for usufruct without land owning. The word ‘support' will be deleted from the industrial land fund section of the law, which will allow the authority to provide income sources from land sales rather than depending on the general budget. Chairman of the Industrial Development Authority Mahmmoud Al-Gurf said that “all winning companies in tenders will pay the usufruct land's value and sell the infrastructure lands to investors to provide various services for them. Moreover all the industrial developers will pay an annual profit percentage to the state during the period of the concession project, and make a commitment to do maintenance work, which will be restored to the state at the end of the term.” Al-Gurf added that the new project requires large companies specialising in contracting, marketing, and industry. As all upcoming projects are large scale and in remote industrial areas, they will require huge investment in power plants, water purification, and gas lines. Al-Gurf also mentioned that proceeds from the land will be given to the fund, which will spend this money on another piece of infrastructure that private sector developers have struggled with. The new industrial zone will be in Fayoum and cover 30 million square metres of land. “Egypt is a promising, attractive industrial destination. The usufruct must apply across the entire republic and all developed sectors. It must be for a long and renewable period, perhaps 45 years. The Industrial Development Authority must consider prices for both industrial developers and investors at the same time,” General Manger of the CPC industrial development company Mohammed Al-Yafy said. He also said that the government must support some industrial zones because it will be difficult for the private sector to do this alone, particularly in remote areas. Al-Yafy welcomed foreign industrial developers to enter the Egyptian market, stressing the government's long-term vision for undeveloped lands.
