Deputy Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities for National Projects Khaled Abbas reviewed the latest developments in the New Administrative Capital (NAC) on Sunday, noting that the first phase of the NAC’s construction will conclude on 30 June.
This came during Abbas’ virtual participating in a symposium of the Edge Innovation Centre that is affiliated with Raya Smart Building — one of the companies of Raya Holding for Financial Investments — which was held under the title ‘New Administrative Capital and the Future of Smart Cities.’
He also said that there are 10,000 Egyptian workers and engineers working in tower projects in the NAC, adding that a large Chinese company and an Egyptian contracting company are handling concrete pours in the city under the supervision of a private Egyptian company affiliated with the state as per investment law.
The deputy minister explained that the first phase of the NAC includes the Central Business District, which comprises 20 mixed-use towers. It also includes the government district — which some ministries have already relocated to, and several Cabinet meetings have already been held there — along with two residential neighbourhoods named ‘Al-Maqsad’ and ‘Garden City’, which comprise about 50,000 housing units.
Abbas also stressed that construction is in full swing, explaining that foreign contracting companies operating in the NAC have transferred their expertise onto the Egyptian companies that have been working with them.
Furthermore, he pointed out that the NAC is the first smart city in Egypt, highlighting the completion of the work of several huge projects in the technology sector, most notably the city’s data centre, security control centre, and cloud data centre. This is in addition to a project to establish and operate a city administration centre as well as a project to supply smart metres for all existing buildings in the NAC.
Regarding the marketing of major urban projects, Abbas revealed that the government — in cooperation with some companies that have participated in real estate exhibitions — succeeded in putting Egypt’s real estate market on the map.
In the next phase, he expects more demand by investors from Arab countries and real estate developers, as well as from citizens to reside in the city after the successful completion of the first phase.
Moreover, he called on developers to play their role in activating real estate export by training employees, pointing out that property developers have not yet played their role in exporting property, as no real estate developer has tried to explain the benefits of obtaining residency or citizenship in exchange for buying property or given a detailed offer regarding the purchase process and its costs.
For his part, Chairperson of Al-Attal Holding Ahmed Al-Attal said that his company was one of the first developers to contribute to the development of this first phase, stressing that the company was keen to expand and invest in the NAC due to its belief in the importance of this national project and its economic feasibility.
Al-Attal added that the giant project reflects the true civilized form of Egypt, as it is the first smart city in Egypt and one of the top 10 sustainable cities in the world.
He noted that the NAC is one of the most important national projects launched by the government during the past seven years, and the most attractive in terms of investments. Given the giant development investment projects it contains — whether governmental or private — it is expected that these investments will increase in the coming period, especially as the government gradually relocates to the city and operation of a number of the capital’s neighbourhoods officially kicks off, which confirms the extent of the positive economic feasibility of investing in the city.
Furthermore, he asserted that the developers of the NAC are among the best in Egypt.
El Attal concluded by explaining that the “conditions that developers of the NAC are going through have not happened before, however, many companies in the city are close to completing their projects thanks to the support provided by the Administrative Capital for Urban Development (ACUD).”
