Briefs

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Thousands of factories in the pipeline

SOME 3,000 factories are currently being established, Foreign Trade and Industry Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid announced this week. Budgeted at an estimated LE2.9 billion, the factories, the minister said, are being built within the framework of President Hosni Mubarak's electoral platform, which included a promise to establish 1,000 new factories during his current term in office.

Rachid said some 2.8 million metres of land in Al-Sadat City, Borg Al-Arab, Aswan and Safaga had already been allocated for the factories, which will include a number of mega projects in sectors like textiles, steel, cement and plastic. The projects are being financed with Italian, Spanish, Saudi Arabian and Lebanese capital.

According to Rachid, production lines at 277 new factories have already begun operating. With total investments of around LE3.1 billion, they will be providing some 28,000 job opportunities. To fulfil the president's promises to provide 1.5 million job opportunities by 2011, Rachid said the industrial sector was expected to provide some 120,000 job opportunities for new graduates by the end of next year.

Stocking up for Ramadan

IN PREPARATION for the holy month of Ramadan -- during which the consumption of essential food commodities goes up -- the government has decided to provide two additional kilogrammes of sugar on 10.3 million ration cards. The subsidised sugar sells for LE1.5 per kg, even though its market price is LE3.5.

Social Solidarity Minister Ali Moselhi said the ministry would be undertaking strict measures to also ensure that 15-25 per cent more rice, macaroni, beans and oil made it to the market during Ramadan, so as to guarantee greater stability in the prices of these main food stuffs during Ramadan.

Imported meat -- priced at LE21 per kg -- will also be available at government cooperatives beginning next week, Moselhi said. The minister indicated that an initial shipment of some 20 tonnes of frozen imported chicken had also been introduced into the market in an attempt to address the imbalance between consumption and local production of poultry, which was negatively affected by the emergence of bird flu last February.