Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly announced his ministry will propose an EGP 150bn project during March's Economic Summit as its first project. The project, named "October Oasis", will be built over an area of 10,000 acres in southern 6th of October City and will be surrounded by the Ring Road and the Fayoum road. The city is the ministry's largest project to be announced at the summit and will include residential, commercial and hospitality elements, said Madbouly. In efforts to activate the sector, Madbouly said last week that several projects and parcels of land will be offered before the end of February to individuals and developers in new cities. Madbouly noted that the government is seeking to draft regulations in a manner that "reflects the partnership between the state and the investor and that works in both their interests". Discussing the budget for new housing, the ministry said it has more than doubled during this fiscal year (FY), adding that an allocation of EGP 28bn is expected for FY 2015/2016. The real estate and construction sector recently witnessed several activities in early February. The New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) will offer four pieces of land, ranging between 2,900sqm and 14,200sqm in a closed tender public bidding in Sheikh Zayed. Last week, NUCA issued seven tenders for development projects in different cities across Egypt. The authority's vice president, Kamal Fahmy, said that four tenders were issued by the local authorities in New Qena and another two in New Tayba, located in the Red Sea governorate. The last project tender was located in Sadat City, which is one of the largest industrial cities in Egypt. Last month, during his visit to the UAE, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi was informed by UAE Minister of State Sultan Al-Jaber that Arabtec's 1m residential-unit project will commence with 120,000 units this month. The project will be implemented in four stages over the next five years. The $40bn project will be built at 13 locations across Egypt, with the first homes to be delivered in early 2017. Arabtec will provide the NUCA with the housing units and public services. The ownership of the project will then transfer to the concerned authorities upon completion.
