Between 9 and 11 March 2017, ECG organized the “Batimat Egypt Projects Summit 2017” at Cairo International Convention & Exhibition Center. The summit brought together the “2nd Egypt Projects Summit: Building Future Egypt” and “BATIMAT Egypt 2017” fair in the same venue. Besides its role as an organizer, ECG also had a strong presence maintained throughout the summit proceedings by a number of its Top Management executives, as well as Business Development & HR personnel.
With ECG Vice President Dr. Nevine AbdelKhalek as Organizing Committee Chair, the “2nd Egypt Projects Summit” aimed at highlighting investment opportunities in the building and construction sectors, with a special focus on construction projects available in the Administrative Capital, Suez Canal Corridor, and Upper Egypt. The 2017 edition of the world-famous building industry fair “Batimat” was organized by Reed Exhibitions, a leading event management firm whose experience of organizing Batimat fairs dates back to 1959.
Held under the patronage of Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, the “Batimat Egypt Projects Summit 2017” had range of government officials and public figures, including Housing & Urban Communities Minister Dr. Moustafa Madbouly; Advisor to President for National & Strategic Projects Ibrahim Mahlab; Head of the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone Dr. Ahmed Darwish; French Ambassador to Egypt Andre Baran; Beni
Suef Governor Sherif Habib; President of the General Confederation of Algerian Enterprises Dr. Saida Neghza; Côte d’Ivoire’s Deputy Minister of Industry Adou Assale; and Projects Advisor to the Government of Cameron Mr. Ogunbusola Solomon.
The summit and fair witnessed participation from more than 300 investors, consultants, contractors, and representatives of private- and public-sector organizations, including the Egyptian Export Council for Building,
Refractory & Metallurgy Industries and the Egyptian Commercial Service. The “Batimat
Egypt 2017” fair had more than 400 exhibitors from various construction firms.
Countries represented in the summit and fair amounted to a total of 30 countries, including Cameroon, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal, side by side with an excellent representation of North Africa(Algeria and Morocco), as well as the Gulf Region. The event also witnessed the participation of 23 French construction firms
specialized in developing sustainable cities. During the summit proceedings, the delegations of West African countries were keen to establish communication and business channels in Egypt.
In his speech, Dr. Mustafa Madbouly stated that investments in Egypt have been rapidly increasing over the past two years. In the process, an area amounting to 3,000 feddans was put forward for investors at the Administrative Capital site, and a total of 140,000 pieces of land were made available for citizens in the last two and
a half years, as opposed to only 28,000 pieces in the preceding seven years. He also pointed out that 540,000 social housing apartments are currently under construction as part of the “One Million Housing Units” Project. By providing a million and a half jobs, the construction sector has contributed to a reduction in Egypt’s unemployment rate by 1%.
In his speech on behalf of the Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammad Salah asserted that the ministry is highly interested in promoting investments in green building, environmentally friendly construction, and renewable energy.
On his part, Dr. Ahmed Darwish emphasized the need for regulatory laws revitalizing the investment climate in Egypt.
As an example to follow, he cited the case for the Suez Canal Corridor Project, in which the licensing process is completed in only three days, and tracts of land along the corridor are put on sale at a price of USD 1 to 3 per square meter under a 50-year usufruct system. He added that Al-Arish Port has great potential for investments in the entire Sinai Peninsula. On her part, Dr. Saida Neghza emphasized the need for revisiting the Egyptian-Algerian “economic
map” and called for establishing a common market to enhance cooperation between the two countries in all fields of interest.
In his speech, Beni Suef Governor Sherif Habib summarized the investment opportunities available in Beni Suef in the construction sector. He asserted that there is ample opportunity in the projects of water and wastewater networks, the hospitality industry, and the entire New Beni Suef City located on the eastern bank of the Nile.
The “2nd Egypt Projects Summit” was concluded with a recommendation of selecting Egypt as the host country of the upcoming “Batimat Middle East” fair scheduled on the agenda of Reed Exhibitions.
