The Internal Trade Development Authority is targeting 8% growth in domestic trade, compared to the current growth of 2%, said Yasser Abbas, head of the authority, in a meeting with the Egyptian Craftsmen Association on Monday.
The five-year strategy of the authority aims to inject up to EGP 50m of new investments in the field of domestic trade, which would directly and indirectly generate 4m job opportunities.
During his meeting with the Craftsmen Association, the trade authority president announced the completion of a new law to establish several commodity exchanges. The law will be presented to the coming parliament for approval. According to Abbas, it aims to establish 27 commodity exchanges across different governorates. He said that a plan would be soon presented that includes auctioning lands for domestic trade development under the commercial development system.
Agreements have been made with several governors to provide lands for logistical and commercial centers that will be offered to the highest bidding investor. “50 acres of land will be offered in the Port Said Governorate, 50 acres in Ismailia, approximately 120 acres in Aswan, and 42 acres in Daqahleya,” said Abbas.
During the authority’s strategic meeting, members of the Craftsmen Association criticised the idea of allocating land through a public auction to grant the right to utilisation to the private sector, as “this would lead to a price increase without boosting domestic trade,” according to Walid Hilal, president of the association.
The head of the trade authority responded: “Law 89, which governs land allocations, obliges the selling of land through the auction system, once its price has been determined by the Government Services Authority, but the benefits for national industry will outweigh any price advantages that may be generated by allocations not made under the bidding system.”
