GAFI approves investment zone at Damietta Furniture City

CAIRO- 27 May 2017: The General Authority for Investments and Free Zones’ (GAFI) has approved establishing a 331-acre investment zone at Damietta Furniture City, said Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr on Saturday.

Inaugurated by President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi last week, the investment zone at Damietta Furniture City will be specialized in furniture manufacturing in addition to all related small and medium industries.

Nasr said in a Saturday statement from GAFI that the investment zone will include a hotel, conferences' center, and a commercial mall for furniture, exhibitions, a hospital, a training academy and a services' center.

“The ministry wants to spread these investment zones across all governorates to achieve inclusive growth and to generate job opportunities,” she said.

Launched in 2015, the Damietta Furniture City project is expected to include at least 2,000 workshops and 55 factories. The project is set to provide over 40,000 direct jobs and 120,000 indirect jobs, according to the Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade.

Eyeing improving the capacity of already-existing 2,400 furniture factories and workshops in Damietta, the project is estimated to value between LE 4.5 to LE 5 billion, with the first and second phase alone predicted to value at LE 1.1 billion.

Damietta is known to be the Egyptian hub for the furniture industry, where 70 percent of exported furniture comes from the city.

In the same board meeting on Saturday, GAFI adopted a strategy to promote investment climate, which includes opening a branch for the authority in 6th of October City.