Cairo: Minister of Industry Khaled Hashem emphasized on Monday, September 21, 2026, that the building materials sector is one of the most important core sectors supporting the national economy, benefiting from a broad industrial base and significant diversity in activities and products. This contributes to meeting local market needs, supporting construction and development projects, and enhancing its capacity to increase exports and open new markets for Egyptian products.
According to State Information Service Egypt, this statement came during the minister's inspection tour, accompanied by Mohamed Farid, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade, of two factories producing prestressed concrete and cosmetics in the industrial zone of 10th of Ramadan City. The visit aimed to monitor the progress of production operations and review expansion and development plans at both facilities.
Hashem added that the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries are among the promising sectors that hold substantial opportunities to advance Egypt's exports across regional markets, praising L'Or©al Egypt's role in adopting and transferring modern technology, expertise, and innovation to the Egyptian market. He noted that L'Or©al Egypt's 100% reliance on renewable energy, alongside recycling water used in industrial processes, aligns with the Ministry of Industry's direction toward rationalizing resource consumption and promoting sustainable manufacturing practices.
Hashem began his tour by inspecting the factory of the Egyptian Company for Prestressed Concrete (ECPC). Situated on an area of 140,000 square meters, in addition to 40,000 square meters of storage space, the project involves investments totaling $20 million with an initial capital of EGP 21 million. The factory's annual production capacity reaches approximately 300,000 tons, with a local component rate of 98%. The company directs its entire output to the domestic market, recording annual sales of nearly EGP 2 billion while creating about 833 direct and indirect job opportunities.
During the tour, the Industry Minister inspected the quality control laboratory, the sheet metal workshop, the reinforced concrete workshop, and the metro segment workshop dedicated to producing concrete tunnel rings. He listened to a presentation by Ahmed Serry, Managing Director of the company, detailing the firm's history since its founding in 1978 as one of the leading companies in prestressed and precast concrete solutions in Egypt and the Middle East.
For their part, company officials explained that operations expanded over recent years to cover various infrastructure projects across Egypt and the region, currently delivering a diverse and integrated portfolio of precast concrete solutions to fulfill the requirements of major construction and building initiatives. They highlighted that company investments over the past five years reached approximately 10 million euros, directed toward modernizing technology and expanding the product range to meet major project requirements.
The minister concluded his tour by inspecting the L'Or©al Egypt cosmetics factory, established on an area of 18,000 square meters with initial investments amounting to 100 million euros. Company officials stated that the factory produced approximately 442 million units over the past five years, with local component rates standing at 70% for packaging materials and 30% for raw materials. The company exports around 85% of its annual production to 20 countries, including nations across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. L'Or©al's presence in the Egyptian market generates approximately 22,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities.