First phase of Robeky leather city completed

CAIRO – 11 March 2018: The government announced on Sunday that the first phase of Al-Robeky city for leather tanneries is complete, with a big number of entities starting production.

This came during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sherif Ismail to follow up on the leather city project in Robeky.

Ismail said that Egypt is keen on upgrading the leather industry in a way that would boost productivity and exports, saying that building a specialized leather city comes as part of the efforts to boost the leather industry.

The meeting also followed up on transferring tanneries from Magra El-Oyoun in Old Islamic Cairo to the new city.

In this respect, Ismail directed to quickly complete the relocation process to pave the way to develop Magra El-Oyoun area and turn it into a cultural and tourist site.

The Prime Minister directed the Hosing Ministry to take the lead in the development process of the area.

The first phase of the Robeky city contains 82 factories, with 322 production units, according to Trade Minister Tarek Kabil.

Kabil said in January that works of the second phase of the city, which spans on an area of 135,000 square meters, is underway and will be completed by April.

The city aims at brining all leather tanneries, currently in Magra El-Oyoun, in one place to become an integrated city for leather. The state will bear the cost of transferring tanneries.

The trade ministry is targeting for leather exports to reach over $1 billion a year in 2020, from the current $200 million a year.

In 2014, former interim President Adly Mansour approved the allocation of 389.6 acres in eastern Cairo for the benefit of the Ministry of Industry for an industrial zone for leather tanneries.

Then in 2015, the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) allotted LE 330 million of its annual budget for the Al-Robeky project.