The budget for the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) will double during fiscal year (FY) 2015/2016 to EGP 28bn, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly announced Wednesday. Madbouly said the budget increase will be directed towards increasing partnerships with the private sector, implementing a significant amount of the authority's projects and stimulating the real estate sector. During the past few years, the Egyptian government has sought to reach a settlement with investors such as Damac, Orascom, SODIC and Palm Hills. Madbouly stressed that Upper Egypt will have a share in the developmental plans, starting with New Fayoum, New Beni Suef, New Sohag, New Qena, New Aswan and New Luxor. About 50 residential units will be constructed in each city, the minister said. Commenting on land prices in Upper Egypt, the minister pointed out that the prices are "very high", while the new Upper Egypt cities are not developed enough. "The value of these cities need to increase within the coming few years," Madbouly said. During the Economic Summit held in March, the Ministry of Housing proposed projects worth a total value of EGP 150bn. In February, 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, the authority announced that it will issue 195 pieces of land in 22 cities for service projects through an auction system. The total size of the 195 issued lands amounts to 600 acres. This move came under the authority's plan to allocate 1,800 acres for various purposes to activate the real estate market.
