A road connecting Upper Egypt and the-Red Sea will be implemented within a year, by July 2016, and will cost EGP 104m, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly announced Saturday. The road will be implemented by the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA) and will be 22 km long to the beginning of the army's road, between Cairo and Assiut. The minister highlighted that the road will help decrease the number of accidents. Two companies will participate in the construction, the Nasr General Contracting Company, a subsidiary of the National Company for Construction and Development, along with the General Nile Company for Roads and Bridges (GNCRB). A comprehensive development plan is taking place in New Assiut, with 20 feddans of land being allocated to build four colleges and a conference hall as well as a hospital to serve students, a mosque and a sports centre. Another 13 feddans will be used for commercial and entertainment purposes such as cinemas, restaurants and a park. A hyper market will also be built within two years. Two month ago, the Ministry of Housing allocated 5,000 land parcels located in 10 new cities through its sixth public draw of social housing lands. Land sizes ranged between 209 and 276 sqm, the ministry added. Land allocated in 6th of October City, Obour City, Badr, 10thof Ramadan City, Al-Sadat and New Saleheya had a metre price that varied between EGP 565 and EGP 975. The prices of land offered in New Beni Suef, New Assiut, New Tiba and New Qena ranged from EGP 565 and EGP 655 per metre. Last month, the Ministry of Investment received a list of approximately 100 projects from Upper Egypt, to be debuted in the "Upper Egypt Development" Conference to be held in September in Hurghada. Minister of Investment Ashraf Salman said that the government will offer economic feasibility projects, and it will give priority to vital projects such as dry ports, roads to be built through the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) system, and general free zones. In late June 2015, Al-Borsa newspaper reported that Assiut would showcase a project with an initial cost of $175m, a project to establish a port along the Red Sea coast to receive coal and dry goods. Other Upper Egyptian governorates will participate in the conference, with Sohag preparing to present 26 projects in tourism, renewable energy and industries with high consumption levels. Al-Minya will put on the table investment opportunities that exceed EGP 1bn. The Red Sea governorate will also put 30 projects under the spotlight at the summit.
