Investment to begin in Egypt's underdeveloped governorates: Minister

Projects in Egypt's more underdeveloped areas will kick off next week, in line with President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's plans to spread investment across the country, says the local development minister, as reported by Al-Ahram's Arabic news website.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Adel Labib said that the agricultural and industrial projects will involve small and medium enterprises in the Sinai Peninsula, Upper Egypt, Al-Wady Al-Gadeed – the vast desert governorate in the southwest – along with two southernmost areas, Halayeb and Shalateen.

The minister assured that "investments will flow into governorates in the coming period," with factories and projects currently on hold in the fields of mining resuming work again. He added that Gulf countries have major projects that will begin in Egypt's different governorates.

Labib assured that investment will not be affected by the government's ongoing confiscation of companies allegedly connected to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, stressing that the businesses will be operated by the government in order to preserve their employees' rights.

Earlier this week, two Brotherhood-affiliated supermarket chains with a combined value of over LE2 billion were closed by the government and then transferred to a state holding company.

In terms of subsidies – long seen as a roadblock towards development in Egypt – Labib said that factories and companies will no longer receive subsidised energy, as power stations are unable to keep up with the demand.