By Heba Gamal
Translated by Muhammad Khalid
New Alamein City stands out as a fourth-generation environmentally friendly city with a strategic location. It encompasses tourist and industrial areas and hotels that rival and surpass international cities in various aspects. It is actively seeking more investments, both in tourism and real estate.
New Alamein City has undergone a significant urban transformation, marked by numerous projects, including beachfront towers, Downtown towers, an entertainment district, a tourist promenade, and a heritage city. Indicators have shown a rise in shares for the Alamein Economic City, which has earned its status as a top-tier international tourist and economic destination. It attracts visitors globally and has created thousands of job opportunities for Egyptians. Moreover, it has opened doors for investors to execute large-scale industrial projects, bearing witness to the state’s remarkable efforts in turning New Alamein City from a once deserted, mine-laden area in Matrouh into a global metropolis.
The city’s inclusion of cutting-edge technological and urban projects unrivaled in the Middle East makes the city unique. These include a groundbreaking drinking water production plant utilizing condensation technology—the first of its kind—and a project dedicated to cultivating crops such as date palms, olives, and pomegranates.
The Egyptian Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) shed light on the New Alamein City, emphasizing that Egyptian urban development is now witnessing massive projects comparable to those in major international capitals. Remarkably, the New Alamein City has become a global tourist destination in just six years since its inception. This monumental development is expected to bring about a paradigm shift in Egyptian urbanization, attracting major international companies to establish their headquarters in the city, and making it a crossroads for diverse cultures, investments, tourism, industry, education, residences, and other activities in the Mediterranean basin.
It is worth noting that New Alamein City epitomizes the fourth generation of million-person cities in the Mediterranean Basin, with target investments reaching EGP 185 bn and creating 40,000 job opportunities for Egyptian workers. Before its construction, 95,000 acres of mines were cleared on the northwestern coast. Additionally, 70 local and foreign companies operate within New Alamein City to carry out various projects.
According to the IDSC’s report, the city’s first phase, covering an area of 14,000 acres, will eventually accommodate 3 mn people. It boasts a remarkable 14-kilometer-long waterfront along the Mediterranean Sea, equivalent to the length of the Alexandria Corniche.
New Alamein City: A Global Center for Finance and Tourism
New Alamein City is poised to become a global financial and tourist hub. Walid Abbas, Vice President of the New Urban Communities Authority for the Planning and Projects Sector, highlights that New Alamein City is being developed with investments exceeding EGP 199 bn. It is set to attract global and regional institutions across various fields and financial activities operating internationally, generating direct returns for the financial center through incorporation, licenses, company establishment, branches, representative offices, financial and legal consulting fees, annual renewal expenses, and the utilization of the center’s diverse services.
The state’s unwavering commitment to the city’s development and project implementation is illuminated by the latest developments in the area, as reported by Invest-Gate.
From a broader perspective, Nader Khozam, Chairman and CEO of IL CAZAR Developments, asserts that new cities, in a general context, have played a crucial role in generating 2.7 million employment opportunities. This has significantly contributed to the reduction of unemployment rates and the fortification of the national economy. He observed that the urban area has doubled, now accounting for 14% of the total state area, up from 7% before the establishment of new cities, particularly the fourth-generation ones. Moreover, the establishment of these new cities has had a substantial impact on bolstering the real estate sector, leading to its increased contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
With an eye on New Alamein City, he highlighted that the establishment of this city, as a key state-driven development initiative, leverages its prime Mediterranean location to attain comprehensive development, establish a diverse economic foundation, and enhance connectivity between the Borg Al Arab, Marsa Matrouh, and Sidi Barrani regions. This facilitates the movement of both population and labor, fostering population growth and enabling a wide range of economic activities along the North Coast.
Beach Area
Assem El-Gazzar, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, announced the completion of facade finishing for 15 towers in the beach area. Simultaneously, interior finishing work for these towers is in progress, with several other towers in various stages of development.
Recreational Area and Tourist Promenade
Significant progress has been achieved in the entertainment area, situated amidst the beachfront towers, featuring a parking facility accommodating 3,000 cars and numerous shops. Moreover, the finishing touches have been applied to the beach section of the 7-kilometer-long tourist promenade. An additional walkway is under construction alongside the lake in the area behind the residential towers.
The Downtown Area and The Heritage City
The Downtown area comprises 40 buildings with 1,320 units, featuring high-quality housing finishing specifications and various sizes. Some units have already been delivered to their occupants, while 24 buildings are currently under construction in the second phase, housing 896 residential units. The completion rate for these units has reached 63%, with concrete work already finished. Finishing works are also in progress in the Latin Quarter.
Additionally, the Heritage City project is being executed over an expansive 260-acre area, encompassing approximately 70 facilities. It includes several colleges at Alamein International University of Science and Technology, which occupies a 128-acre area and has already commenced operations.
Social Housing
The Minister of Housing has reported that the implementation of 45 residential buildings (1,080 residential units) in the first phase of distinguished housing has been completed. Another 35 buildings are currently being constructed in the second phase of the project, housing 840 residential units. Furthermore, 4,096 residential units (128 residential buildings) are in progress as part of the Sakan Misr project for middle-class housing, with a completion rate of 90%. Various utility projects, networks, and road works are also underway.
Establishment of A Soda Ash Production Complex
This project aims to establish a complex for the production of soda ash (sodium carbonate) and its derivatives, with an annual capacity of approximately 600,000 tons. Its purpose is to cater to the needs of the local market, facilitate exports of the product abroad, and stimulate industries related to soda ash, such as the glass and detergent industries.
Shaher Reda, CEO of the Egyptian Soda Ash Company, provided an update on the project’s status. He discussed the steps taken to select a general contractor for the project through a tender process involving several international companies. He also touched upon matters related to securing necessary financing and insurance, as well as securing raw materials for this significant project. Additionally, plans were mentioned to market the product both domestically and internationally. Reda highlighted the results of the feasibility studies conducted on the project and noted that the selection of the project site in the city of New Alamein City followed a comparative study with sites in several other governorates, affirming that the chosen site was the most suitable. Furthermore, there are plans to connect the project site to transportation networks, including railways and electric trains.
New Alamein Festival 2023
The New Alamein Festival stands as the culmination of the political leadership’s efforts in urban development. It has successfully drawn the attention of numerous investors and tourists to visit the city and promote it on a broader scale. Regarded as the most significant and largest entertainment event in Egypt and the Middle East, many view it as pivotal to the future of Egypt’s new tourism and urban areas.
Nader Khozam commented that New Alamein City has turned out to be an international tourist destination through the New Alamein Festival in the Middle East. Egypt describes the New Alamein City as an entertainment destination for Egyptians and tourists. He pointed out how Egypt, under the guidance of our President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, managed to transfer the desert to an international entertainment and tourist destination.