Egypt's Tourism Development Authority (TDA) has approved the allocation of land in Ain Al-Sokhna and Ras Sudr for five touristic projects. The volume of investment in these projects will be around EGP 3bn, the Ministry of Tourism said Friday in an official statement. The Ministry of Tourism received 50 requests from investors to participate in the projects, which were announced in a bid in January. The ministry said it only received 5% of these requests during fiscal year 2012/2013. Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said the Egyptian government is about to review Law 14, which addresses the development of Sinai, and will work on resolving barriers to advancement by amending investment laws. Last month, the Ministry of Tourism announced that will be supporting a number of projects that aim to raise the standard of touristic services in several cities. After meeting all technical and financial requirements, one company has won the bid to implement a 140,000-acre, integrated tourism project for the price of $150 per metre. Among other projects that were opened for bids, was the project to build a global wellness centre that will include hotels, restaurants, and apartments over 215,000 square meters of land, with a price of $75 per meter. Seven companies have bid on the project. Other projects include the construction of a marina that links the South Abo El Darag area to Ain El-Sokhna, as well as another one that links Nakhella and Ras Sudr. Tarek Shoukry, chairman of the local real estate firm Arabia Group for Development and Urban Progress, said the company plans to invest in a 1m square metre project to include a hotel and 2,000 touristic and residential units in Sinai. Shoukry said the company will begin work on the "huge" tourism project in mid 2015, by which time he expects the political situation to have improved.
