Today, Egypt’s Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities convened with a group of real estate developers to discuss the challenges facing the real estate sector and explore opportunities for collaboration in the near future. The meeting included officials from the ministry, the New Urban Communities Authority, and several city development heads, Invest-Gate reports.
At the beginning of the meeting, Minister El Sherbini expressed his pleasure in meeting with real estate developers and investors. He emphasized the government’s ongoing substantial support aimed at advancing projects and investments under the Ministry of Housing’s purview. He assured attendees that efforts would continue to overcome various obstacles and address any challenges faced by professionals in the real estate development sector. He reiterated that these developers are partners in the journey of development and success, highlighting the importance of providing more investment opportunities across various activities and expanding partnerships with the private sector in upcoming projects.
The minister pointed out that in recent months, he has visited several investment projects established in partnership with real estate developers during his field tours of new cities. He expressed satisfaction with the efforts being made and noted that there will be further field visits to assess the progress of ongoing projects. Today’s meeting aimed to discuss the various challenges faced by developers to accelerate progress.
Minister El Sherbini stated, “We have numerous projects that will be initiated in accordance with the political leadership’s directives to expand investment opportunities in partnership with the private sector. We are currently evaluating several projects for private sector engagement, particularly regarding real estate marketing and the establishment of new partnerships. Significant movement is underway in this area.”
During the meeting, the minister also addressed strategies for developing several axes within new cities and their surrounding areas, emphasizing the direct positive impact on citizens.
In response, investors praised the swift action and innovative approach taken by the Minister of Housing in recent months to support developers. They called for expedited processing of project-related procedures. The minister then directed city authority officials to speed up the issuance of permits and implement ministerial decisions regarding this matter, aiming to complete the licensing process as quickly as possible.
Developers also requested incentives and advantages to encourage investors, particularly concerning land prices, emphasizing the significant benefits this could bring to the state through infrastructure development and the promotion of investment. They further proposed extending deadlines for some projects to provide them with adequate time to complete them. They stressed the necessity of tightening control over real estate brokers, to which the minister responded that efforts are being made to address this issue, and he encouraged developers to submit their proposals for consideration in resolving it in the near future.
The meeting also covered ways to encourage developers to implement sustainable buildings, with support from the Ministry of Housing, and to provide incentives in this regard. Additionally, the discussion touched on the export of Egyptian real estate and the provision of land for new projects. In this context, the minister called for a study to identify a range of investment opportunities for real estate developers and to create new spaces and distinguished sites within new cities.