CAIRO: Minister of Transportation Mohamed Mansour announced Wednesday the government had reached an agreement to initiate work on an $8 billion (LE 46 billion) Borg El Arab-Aswan highway with the Gulf consortium established in August to invest in Egyptian transportation infrastructure projects. Mansour said a joint company will be set up to explore the project, the largest proposed by the consortium among others totaling $30 billion (LE 171 billion). The proposed six-lane highway will run about 30 kilometers to the west of the Nile from the Alexandria suburb to Aswan, covering an estimated distance of 850 kilometers. The consortium, led by UAE s Abu Dhabi Investment House (ADIH) and The National Holding Company, and Bahrain s Gulf Finance House, in addition to others from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, established the $1 billion transportation holding company to implement projects via public-private partnerships (PPP). The Ministry of Transportation is a minority shareholder in the company. ADIH Chief Executive Officer Rashad Janahi says the decision to establish the company was based on Egypt s improving investment climate, yielding impressive macro-economic numbers not seen in almost a decade. We feel that the potential to generate returns from [the transportation] sector, with Egypt being the most populous country in the region is very high, a senior ADIH official said in a statement to The Daily Star Egypt. Moreover the government s thrust to join hands with the private sector on infrastructure development in the sector has also opened up a great opportunity. Other projects proposed by the holding company include passenger ferry lines between Saudi Arabian and Egyptian ports, a rail line between Hurghada, Safaga, Qena and Luxor, and an eastern port in Port Said, the official said. The announcement comes just days after UAE construction giant Damac announced it plans to establish a $16 billion (LE 91 billion) resort in Gamasha Bay, north of Hurghada, over 30 million square meters. The 10-year project continues the influx of Gulf investment in Egypt. Major deals in the past six months have included UAE s Etisalat winning Egypt s third mobile operator license for $2.9 billion; Emaar s acquisition of prime resort land in Sidi Abdel Rahman for $1 billion, with plans to build a $10 billion resort in addition to a $4 billion residential area in Cairo; and Saudi Arabia s Anwal, finalizing the deal to purchase retailer Omar Effendi for $100 million.
