Walid Abbas, assistant minister for community affairs of the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), says that 81 investment projects have been approved in more than 16 cities, spreading over a total of 13,697 acres, Invest-Gate reports.

Abbas tells Invest-Gate that nine other ministerial approvals for new projects will be received before year-end, bringing the total to 90 projects approved by the ministry by the end of 2018.

Abbas also discloses that 15 ministerial approvals had been issued for projects within the New Administrative Capital (NAC), with four more ministerial approvals expected to be issued soon, bringing the total ministerial approvals for projects in the NAC to 19 approvals by year-end.

The total number of ministerial approvals issued by the Housing Ministry in the last four years reached 317 approvals, he notes.

In 2017, the ministry issued 78 ministerial approvals for investment projects. Meanwhile, in 2016, 80 ministerial approvals were granted, which indicates the whopping efforts exerted by the housing ministry, represented by NUCA, to accelerate the urban development process.