Egypt’s government is preparing to announce new projects that will “earn huge amounts of foreign currency” and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, Egypt’s cabinet said on Thursday, an apparent reference to a multi-billion dollar development planned along the Mediterranean coast.
Hossam Heiba, CEO of the state General Authority for Investments, said that Egypt had chosen an investment group from the United Arab Emirates from among several bids to implement a project at Ras al-Hikma 200 kms (124 miles) west of Alexandria in an area of upscale tourist resorts.
Investments in the project could eventually exceed $22 billion and include participation from Egypt’s government and private sector, he said in an interview on CNBC Arabia television.
Egypt is in desperate need of foreign currency to repay heavy foreign debts coming due this year, and the International Monetary Fund has been pushing it to sell state assets, make space for the private sector and allow its currency to trade flexibly.
An IMF team was in Egypt last month to negotiate the revival and possible expansion of a $3 billion loan agreement which faltered soon after it was signed in December 2022.
Reports of the Ras al-Hikma project and a second project nearby have caused the share prices of Emaar Misr and Talaat Moustafa Group to soar over the last week.
Thursday’s cabinet statement said the government had hired an international law firm to draw up the final wording of the contracts and agreements, including financial, legal and technical details.
Details would be announced soon, once negotiations with investors are concluded. The projects would put Egyptian companies to work and revive the industrial sector, the statement said.—Zawya
