Built on four decades of cooperation between the Saudi Arabian and Egyptian governments, the Saudi Egyptian Construction Company (SECON) continues to break new ground in Egypt’s real estate and tourism sectors. Established in 1975, SECON has expanded its portfolio to over 20,000 units, serving all kinds of clients across Egypt. The company started investing in tourism developments in 2008 and has registered strong growth in recent years.
After a €222m capital increase at the start of 2015,SECON targeted 60% annual profit growth last year. While the Saudis contributed their half in cash, the Egyptian authorities granted the firm 100 acres of land in New Cairo, New Damietta, and New Assiut. Work is planned to begin concurrently on three new projects worth €319m, including a four star hotel in the New Damietta project with around 100 rooms. SECON expects to deliver all three projects within just 36 months.
But SECON’s biggest bet on Egypt’s future is the €228m SECON Nile Towers: “Comprising two, 23-storey towers – one home to the latest addition to the Hilton portfolio in Egypt, the five-star, 256-room Hilton Maadi, and the other 190 residential units, with hotel facilities upon the buyer’s request – they should be finished by the end of 2016,” says the company’s CEO, Darwish Ahmed Hassanin. “This will be the first hotel owned by both the Egyptian and Saudi governments.
“It is our belief that Egypt will stabilise and move forward,” Hassanin asserts. “The real- estate sector is the most important motor of the economy. If the real-estate situation is positive, the overall economic situation will be positive too.”
