The Beit Al-Watan initiative, aimed at encouraging Egyptians abroad to invest in their home country in the field of housing, has managed to collect $7.3 billion since its launch in 2012, according to a statement on Sunday 4/8/2024 by Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Sherif El-Sherbiny.
Minister El-Sherbiny made his remarks while attending the fifth edition of the Egyptians Abroad Conference, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs under the slogan “From the Mother of the World to the Whole World.”
He explained that nine phases of Beit Al-Watan were completed between 2012 and 2023. The ministry has allocated thousands of residential and service plots of land, residential units of all types, villas, and cemeteries for this project.
He added that preparations are underway to launch new phases of the project, including residential units and plots of land, which will be announced as soon as they are completed.
This initiative represents on
e of the strategies adopted by Egypt to increase the flow of foreign currencies, as the country has been facing a severe shortage of foreign currencies due to rising regional geopolitical tensions.
Moreover, El-Sherbiny affirmed that the ministry is working to provide all support to Egyptians living abroad through initiatives to launch housing projects there, promoting real estate investment and export, allocating lands in dollars from abroad, developing marketing skills to attract citizens residing abroad, and developing the website of the New Urban Communities Authority so that lands can be offered through it on an ongoing basis.
Real state and GDP
The minister stated that the real estate sector contributes around 20 percent of revenues to the national gross domestic product (GDP).
According to the statement, the sector’s contribution increased from EGP 57 billion in 2018 to EGP 124 billion in 2023.
El-Sherbiny highlighted his ministry’s commitment to providing all forms of support to real estate devel
opers, aiming to implement more projects in partnership with developers and attract new forms of local and foreign investments in new cities, especially fourth-generation cities.
Furthermore, he said the ministry will target foreign investments in real estate projects, especially in the Central Business District in the New Administrative Capital, alongside other projects in various new cities across the republic.
New projects
El-Sherbiny also presented the areas proposed within the National Strategic Plan for Urban Development, Egypt 2052.
These areas include 15 development areas and 24 fourth-generation cities currently implemented and are expected to accommodate 32 million people, the statement added.
The fourth-generation cities are divided as follows: nine in the Greater Cairo region, six in Upper Egypt, five in the Suez Canal and Sinai region, and four in Lower Egypt, in addition to 14 cities planned to be implemented.
El-Sherbiny pointed out that fourth-generation cities, like New Alamein City, of
fer more than just developmental benefits. They serve as real estate and service hubs catering to various segments of society.
These cities also yield investment and development returns for national projects along the northwest coast, including the Ras El-Hekma area. Furthermore, they provide social benefits, such as increasing the per capita share of green spaces in existing cities – 600 acres of green areas have been added to Greater Cairo – and economic returns and opportunities for tourism investment.
Housing challenges
El-Sherbiny highlighted that multiple problems of Egyptian urbanization had accumulated before 2014, including high building and population densities, as the Egyptian population is concentrated within only seven percent of the total area.
He added that the infrastructure of Egyptian cities is deteriorating, billions of dollars are being wasted due to the congestion of the Greater Cairo area, available services are declining, and sanitation is halved.
Therefore, under presidential dire
ctives, the state is working to provide citizens with current and future needs for adequate housing.
Source: State Information Service Egypt
