CAIRO: Al Futtaim Group of the United Arab Emirates has revealed its expansions plan that will turn the group s City Center Maadi into a department store chain of forty branches at a total cost of LE 100 million, said Akram Zohairy, Director of the City Center Maadi in Cairo. The expansions are part of a ten-year plan to launch 10 new trade centers in various areas of Egypt and to introduce several international brand names for the first time into the Egyptian market. This plan will push up Al Futtaim investments in Egypt to $1.5 billion. Zohairy added that he was confident the UAE company would stand in competition in the Egyptian market, where competition was not only over pricing, but included a variety of free services to shoppers. Al Futtaim started its operation in Egypt in 2002 with two department stores in Alexandria and Cairo and total investments of LE 400 million. In November 2006, the UAE-based group unveiled plans that it would invest as much as LE 20 billion ($3.4 billion) to build an integrated housing project with entertainment facilities in the New Cairo. The Cairo Festival Project will be constructed on three million square meters, and will include a large trade center - the core of the whole project. The trade center is expected to start operation in 2009 and will be built on 200,000 sqm.
