IDA finishes 850 factories part of larger project

CAIRO – 23 September 2017: The Industrial development Authority (IDA) has completed the construction of more than 850 factories, part of the “1,000 factory project” in New Cairo, a source in the authority said Saturday.

He said that 400 factories of them are currently obtaining their operating licenses.

The project was initially announced by former president Hosni Mubarak, during his presidential campaign in 2005. It entailed the provision of small plots of lands, ranging between 300-600 square meters, to build small factories or workshops.

However, the project did not achieve the aimed target as most of the people who got the lands were not investors and did not have any investment plans, so they kept the land for long until they sold them.

In 2014, President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi restarted the project so that it includes small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and procedures for obtaining operating licenses for them have been simplified.

The construction of the project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.
Egypt approved in may a new Industrial Permits Act that aims at easing measures for obtaining licenses for industrial establishments.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has issued the law’s executive regulations on August 13. Under the law, 80 percent of the projects will be granted licenses upon notifications, while 20 percent will have to wait for the approval of the IDA due to being categorized as “risky” industries.