Achieving
comprehensive, sustainable industrial development in Upper Egypt’s governorates
comes atop the ministry’s action plan, Gamea said.
Qena-
Dec 25, 2021
Minister
of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea has accompanied President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi on his visit to Qena to inaugurate a number of development projects,
including five industrial parks housing 1,178 manufacturing units, in the
governorate.
In
her speech, Gamea presented the ministry’s integrated industrial development
plan for Upper Egypt and the steps taken to implement the axes related to
improving industrial activities in the region.
“Achieving comprehensive, sustainable
industrial development in Upper Egypt’s governorates comes atop the ministry’s
action plan for the current period,” Gamea said, noting that the ministry is
keen to upgrade the existing industrial complexes and establish new ones to
further boost industrial production and benefit from the area’s major economic
potentials.
The
action plan, she explained, is based on three axes that include: completing 20
industrial zones at a cost of EGP 2.8 billion, identifying the top investment
opportunities available in the governorates- which amount to 234 most of which
for medium projects with investment costs ranging EGP1billion – EGP 25 billion,
and launching the rest of the 10 industrial parks which offer 2,628
manufacturing units.
Gamea pointed out that the basic criteria in choosing the targeted
activities are: deepening local manufacturing, the components and capabilities
of the governorates, the spaces of industrial units, as well as attracting the
informal sector, and providing job opportunities and competitive advantages for
each region.
She further added that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise
Development Agency plays a major role in the development plan, providing some
EGP 563 million to finance the 21,000 targeted projects within the Decent Life initiative,
which offer around 38,000 jobs. In the period 2014-2021, it injected EGP16
billion into 827,000 MSMEs in Upper Egypt, 65% of the total funding directed to
the region.