(DNE photo)
The infrastructure planning for the new Cairo Capital project proposed at the Economic Summit in March is set to be completed within four months, according to Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly.
Madbouly said the ministry is keen on partnerships between the public and private sectors the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) pertaining to the projects that debuted in the Economic Summit in March.
Speaking at a conference on development partners on Sunday, Madbouly said the Economic Summit was considered just the beginning for developing and investing in the real estate sector in Egypt and the ministry will continue to announce and launch new projects in the coming period.
The minister added that the ministry seeks to finalise the contracts for the six projects announced in the Economic Summit, as well as solve investment problems. “We seek to form a viable relationship of cooperation in which the two parties are seeking very carefully to implement projects in the next phase,” he said.
“The projects will be built using Egyptian construction companies and Egyptian labour. The Egyptian Federation of Construction and Building has to begin its preparations to implement the new projects,” said Madbouly. “Our challenge is to complete the projects in a very short time with the same quality.”
Madbouly noted that the real estate sector is facing issues mainly pertaining to the constructors’ contracts, as the government will review the contracts over two months, in addition to converting the MoUs into contracts between the government and the investors to start developing the projects.
Madbouly explained that real estate regulations will be issued soon but the delay was due to the discussions around the regulation by the stakeholders and construction companies. They will be issued in a final draft in the first board meeting of the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA).
He pointed out that the Cairo Capital (CC) project will be implemented through a joint company or entity between Egypt and the UAE.
On another note, Madbouly said the ministry plans to end the sewage and roads planning of the CC with construction companies within three to four months.
According to the minister, the Arabtec company had previously agreed to provide middle-class and low-income housing units for Egyptian citizens within the project, however the company later rejected the terms of the agreement.
Madbouly revealed that the project will be ready for implementation and development in less than two months.
Head of the Egyptian Federation of Construction and Building Constructors Hassan Abdul Aziz said Egyptian construction companies are capable of building all the national projects announced in Economic Summit if contracts are provided to begin implementation.
Abdul Aziz demanded that the concerned banks facilitate the provision of their services, noting that the government is responsible for providing manpower with technical education to implement the projects.
President of the Egyptian Businessmen Association Hussein Sabbour added that after 2010 the government launched a new an initiative of partnership between it and the private sector in developing and investing in construction field, which is considered a good move from the government.
Sabbour demanded that the government solve the problems of lands allocations to ease the investments in real estate sectors.
He explained that providing more than 24% the desert lands for the Capital underlines the exploitation of these lands, which is important for the state, businessmen, and more importantly for the benefit of the citizen, so the government has to speed up building these national projects.
“93% of desert land is ready to be developed, and through which we can allocated the suitable lands for investors to get rid of investor dissatisfaction on the allocated lands and solve other problems that alienate real estate investments,” Sabbour added.
“Registration of land in Egypt takes about 10 months and the registration of land in Australia takes only one day, and this applies on construction permits and other procedures which should be addressed and considered by the government to eliminate legal bureaucracy,” he said.
