The government will offer 73 parcels of land that range from 10,000 square meters and 1 million square meters to investors in the next few days, according to Tourism Development Authority (TDA) head Serag El Din Saad. The offered lands are located in the North Coast, Red Sea Governorate, South Sinai, and Luxor.
In his interview with Daily News Egypt, Saad said that the government will offer a total of 49m square meters.
You announced that you plan to offer several investment opportunities. Has there been an update on this offer?
We are approaching the final steps to offer 73 investment opportunities in lands with areas starting from 10,000 square meters to several million square meters in various areas, including South Sinai, the Red Sea Governorate, and North Coast.
I can say that this will be the largest offering in TDA’s history. We wanted to tell investors that there are significant investment opportunities across Egypt.
There are opportunities for plots of areas starting from 10,000 meters. There are also 8m square meters for giant integrated projects in which there are different types of investments including hotel investment, tourism housing, or tourism ports.
There are several areas that have been saturated with tourism, especially Ain Sokhna where there is only one investment opportunity: a 43,000-square-metre public beach. On the other hand, the rest of the areas offer promising investment opportunities, notably in the Gulf of Gamsha, the North Coast, and the Gulf of Aqaba.
Many investors have expressed an interest in the North Coast. How do you see the future of investment in this area?
TDA will offer 12 plots of land for investment in the North Coast. The area is very promising: undeveloped lands overlooking the Mediterranean coast with nearby airports in Borg El Arab and Alamein. Additionally, it is close to Alexandria.
This area will be the Riviera of the new Egypt, and the state’s plan for it is to be comprehensively developed.
There will be tourist housing units and entertainment projects in the area, which will contribute to the region’s potential. We have already received offers from Arab investors to finance projects in the regions.
Can you tell me more about TDA’s projects in the Red Sea Governorate?
There are 10 sites in the Red Sea Governorate, on plots ranging from 500,000 square meters for limited development to 8m square meters for integrated development.
There are 28 sites on plots ranging from 10,000 square meters to 400,000 meters.
During the last period, we worked to expand opportunities for services providers and facilities. This philosophy proves that tourism development is capable of creating urban communities in the desert.
TDA’s lands are distributed from Halayib and Shalateen to Ain Sokhna.
In light of the decline in tourism, will you provide incentives for investors?
TDA has been dealt with investors using flexible regulations over the past five years.
We postponed dues several times and we are considering further postponements and payment instalment plans, according to the postponing commitments policy—these are the state’s funds and we cannot waive them. However, the state takes circumstances that face tourism investors into consideration.
Some investors have complained that the government has threatened to confiscate previously allocated land. How do you respond to this charge?
The actual construction on plots of land that have been considered for confiscation has not reached 10%. I can understand when a hotel owner complains of the tourism decline. But why would investors not complete construction and abide by the implementation timetable.
We gave these projects deadlines to rectify their situations. The lands are the state’s and it is our duty to keep them unharmed.
Investors say they do not have the requisite funds to continue construction.
Investors are obliged to follow a timetable. It is not realistic for a project to proceed for five years and still be under 10% completed.
Daily News Egypt
16 May
