Minister of Industry and Trade Tarek Kabil announced that 655 industrial projects had received the final approval to be established inside and outside industrial zones during the first quarter of 2017 with a total investment of EGP 15.6 bn.
The minister added that the new projects create almost 20,000 direct job opportunities, explaining that the approvals included projects in different industries such as food, chemical, textile, and mining, according to the ministry’s report of industrial development performance indicators.
The minister stated that the positive indicators reflect the ministry’s strategy to enhance the industrial development until the year 2020, in order to raise the rate of industrial growth to 8% and create 3 million jobs.
Currently, the ministry is focusing on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as they are the main engine for development and innovation, Kabil noted.