The chairman of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has revealed details of a package of industrial-zone development projects involving 25m square metres of land. Speaking to Daily News Egypt on the sidelines of the second Egypt Automotive Summit in Cairo on Tuesday, General Ismail Gaber said that a large portion of the land, amounting to 8.5m sqm, will fall under the control of the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA). The IDA intends to offer the remaining 16.5m sqm to industrial-land development companies, he said, adding that the offer will be for companies only, and not on investors' associations or unions. Associations wishing to compete for the plots of land, which are divided among the cities of the Tenth of Ramadan, Sadat and Borg Al-Arab, will have to establish companies like that founded by the Badr Investors Association. Gaber said that the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) is the official body in charge of offering the land to companies through the single-window system, pursuant to the new executive regulations for investment law amendments. He added that the offering will be in accordance with the mechanisms regulated by the entity responsible, which in this case is the IDA, bearing in mind that the main objective is to provide industrial land to investors at affordable prices. NUCA, as the governmental entity participating in utilizing industrial lands, is preparing the conditions of contract, which will be offered to companies. Its total of 8.5m square metres will be distributed as follows: 4m sqm in the Tenth of Ramadan; 2.4m sqm in Borg Al-Arab; and 2.1m sqm in Sadat City. Studies for the development of a new industrial zone in the north of Fayoum are currently underway. Gaber emphasised that Egypt has 124 industrial zones, including 79 industrial areas located in Upper Egypt, that have failed to lure investors, who prefer land in within the Greater Cairo area.
