Mohamed Al-Zallat, head of the Industrial Development Authority, visited the industrial zone in southern Al-Raswa in Port Said governorate, at the head of a technical work team from the authority.
He said that the visit aimed to discuss the challenges facing the 45 industrial investors who have obtained lands south of Raswa since 2018 to establish their own factories. The deadline for the projects was last March. Investors are now obliged to establish their factories and obtain the required permits.
In this context, a number of investors called for more payment facilitations for land plots, and an amendment to the project timetable to make the best use of the Prime Minister’s decision to reduce the interest on industrial land mortgage to 7% until 2022.
Al-Zallat confirmed that the authority will study this request and the available solutions, pointing out that the authority is studying the investors’ request to raise the electricity rate in the area from 150 to 250 watts.
He explained that the government’s strategy aims to transform Port Said from a commercial governorate into a productive industrial development hub in support of local industrialization and increase the added value of the governorate’s products.
He referred to the state’s efforts in this regard, which included developing and accommodating the industrial zone in southern Raswa, which is built on a total area of 356 feddans, to be one of the industrial development hubs in Egypt.
He explained that the authority had established the first complex for small industries in the governorate in the southern Raswa area, on a total area of 181,000 sqm, where 118 industrial units were put forward within the framework of the presidential initiative to support small projects and establish industrial complexes in all governorates.
Al-Zalat also revealed that the complex accommodates nearly 2,000 workers from the governorate, pointing out that the complex’s success in Port Said in attracting small investors is an encouraging motive for the state to continue working to provide more units and industrial lands to enhance industrial transformation and encourage industrial development in the governorate.
He pointed out that the authority is fully prepared to provide all aspects of support and advice to factory owners to immediately start setting up their production lines and provide all necessary facilities for obtaining industrial licenses, activating the role of the authority’s branches to provide services to investors, and providing all procedural facilities, stressing at the same time that the authority does not allow fraud.
