Cairo: The Ministerial Group for Industrial Development has approved two significant manufacturing projects for chemicals and tires, amounting to a total investment of $1.291 billion (approximately EGP 61.23 billion). Additionally, three licenses have been issued to establish new cement factories.
According to State Information Service Egypt, during the 37th session of the group, led by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Transport Kamel Al-Wazir, requests for the projects under the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) were reviewed and approved. The first project focuses on chemical manufacturing, with an investment of $1 billion (around EGP 47.43 billion), covering an area of 320,000 square meters. It will specialize in producing pesticides, chlorine products, and alkalis.
The Egyptian cabinet has also urged export councils to develop strategies to increase non-oil exports by 15-20 percent annually until 2030. In the first 11 months of 2025, exports of chemical products and fertilizers, a key component of Egypt's non-oil sector, rose by 8 percent, reaching $8.6 billion.
The second approved project is a tire manufacturing facility, with an investment of $291 million (around EGP 13.80 billion), spanning 380,000 square meters. However, no timeline has been provided for the completion of either project.
The SCZone has attracted approximately $13 billion in foreign investments over the past three years. Recently, Egypt has signed several industrial agreements with Norwegian, Chinese, and Qatari firms, amounting to over $3.15 billion in total investments in the SCZone.
The ministerial group also issued licenses for three new cement plants, each with a single production line, and plans for future expansions of unspecified existing plants. The exact locations of the new plants remain undisclosed, but they are slated for completion within a year of the production date. These initiatives aim to boost cement production to meet local demands and prepare for potential increases in demand due to Egypt's plans for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.