The Ministry of Housing is preparing to offer lands for services at the New Administrative Capital by the end of the coming year, according to Assistant Minister of Housing Khaled Abbas. Abbas said that the government will provide more facilities and privileges for the investors in the coming period. He added that 13 investors have applied to carry out construction projects at the New Administrative Capital. He furthermore noted that the lands were not only offered to real estate developers, but also to individuals. Commenting on offering of investment land for real estate developers, Abbas said that the Ministry of Housing will offer plots ranging between 10 and 100 acres. Abbas pointed out that the mechanism of offering is being determined, and the proposal is currently being studied by the Ministry of Investment. Stephen Carter, the group chief executive of Informa Exhibitions, the organiser of Cityscape exhibitions around the world, said that the Egyptian market is one of the most important markets in the region. During the exhibition on Wednesday, he stressed the group's keenness to expand in Egypt, noting that Cityscape plays an important role by creating an environment for exchange of visions and ideas, as well as building professional networks. Carter noted that Informa's role in Egypt is not limited to the real estate sector, but also includes healthcare, energy, and security. He pointed out that the company also cooperated with the Egyptian Ministry of Education to contribute to developing the Bank of Knowledge. Founder and owner of Mena for Touristic and Real Estate Investment and chairperson of the Cityscape Egypt Conference, Fathallah Fawzi, said that there are many challenges facing the Egyptian economy, the most prominent of which is the steady growth of population, which reaches 2.5 million annually while the growing population lives on only about 7% of the area of Egypt. Fawzy added that the urban areas in Egypt cannot absorb the growth in population and that it needs development of 20,000 acres annually. He noted that the realisation of the state plan for urban development requires relying heavily on the private sector in developing and urbanising the remote lands and by reviving the idea of the general developer so as not to bear the financial burdens affecting the state budget. Fawzy explained that all local and global experiences proved the success of the idea of a general developer, giving example of developing areas in Heliopolis, Mokattam, and Garden City that have been developed by general developers. The general developer is usually a big real estate company, developing lands from A to Z, including planning, designing, connecting services and utilities, and, finally, construction. He called on the government to work harder to create a favourable investment climate for real estate developers through the amendment and issuance of a series of legislation encouraging investment, in addition to issuing licences and permits electronically besides activating the general developer and not giving one institution the right to monopolise land offerings.
