Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly embarked on an inspection tour on Monday, aiming to advance various industrial and agricultural projects across the industrial zones of new cities and governorates. The goal is to overcome the challenges facing these projects. His tour began in the governorates of Beheira and Alexandria, where he inspected several agricultural, industrial, and technological projects. The visit started with a stop at the Alexandria Agricultural Company (Lamar) in the city of Nubaria, Beheira. Upon arrival, the Prime Minister emphasized that his current visit to the Nubaria region, the second within a few months, reflects the government's commitment to supporting the private sector in agriculture and other key sectors identified by the state: industry, telecommunications, information technology, and tourism. The aim is to maximize returns from these four sectors, increase Egyptian production and exports, and reach the desired target of $100 billion in exports. Madbouly clarified that the Egyptian government is already implementing a plan to increase the private sector's share of total state investments and enhance its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP) to 65% in the coming years. Structural reform measures are underway in these key sectors to achieve this goal. During his tour in Alexandria, Madbouly visited the factory of the National Vegetable Oil Company in New Borg El Arab city. He highlighted the oil industry in Egypt as a promising sector with growth opportunities. Emphasizing the importance of attracting both local and foreign investments, he aims to meet local market needs, reduce the import bill, and establish a strong link between agriculture and industry. Madbouly listened to an explanation from Osama Soliman, Chairperson of the National Vegetable Oil Company. Soliman clarified that the global company Cargill opened and operated the National Vegetable Oils factory in September 2004, with a crushing capacity of up to 3,000 tonnes per day of soybeans, totalling one million tonnes annually. The factory produces crude soybean oil and soybean meal. In March 2018, the company doubled its production by adding a new production line with a capacity of one million tons annually, bringing the total production capacity to 2 million tonnes per year. Madbouly also toured the factories of Robex International, a company specializing in plastic and acrylic product manufacturing. During the visit, he inquired about the company's operations, manufacturing processes, and plans. The tour covered the plastic factory, an exhibition showcasing plastic products for various uses, the bathtub factory, the acrylic factory, and the exhibition of sanitary products. Impressed by the quality and variety of the products, the Prime Minister expressed government support for Robex's investment plans and export expansion in alignment with state objectives. Magdy El Taher, Chairperson of the company's board of directors, revealed that the current average sales volume stands at around EGP 200 million. Robex aims to increase sales to EGP 250 million during the current year, with approximately 20% of production already exported to 120 clients in 39 countries. The company targets a 30% export volume increase this year. El Taher highlighted Robex's main factories, including the plastic factory with 21 injection moulding machines producing 8,000 tonnes annually, and the bathtub and foot bath factory with a capacity of 300,000 pieces per year. Notably, the company has obtained a quality mark from the Egyptian Organization for Standardization and Quality. Additionally, Madbouly visited the SPE Egypt – Zahran Group factory for household appliances and utensils in New Borg El Arab city, Alexandria governorate. Accompanied by Engineer Ahmed Sameer (Minister of Trade and Industry) and Hossam Heiba (CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones), Madbouly received an explanation from Engineer Qasim Hassan, CEO of Groupe SEB Egypt. This partnership between SEB Group (a global household appliance leader) and Zahran Egyptian Company began operations in Egypt in 2013. Since the 2018 merger, the company's investment volume has exceeded EGP 1.5 billion, employing approximately 1,200 workers. SEB Egypt – Zahran Group owns two factories in the Borg El Arab Industrial City, covering 60,000 sqm. One factory produces electrical appliances (fans, blenders, air fryers, vacuum cleaners) across 15 production lines, while the other focuses on cookware production. Brands like Tefal, Moulinex, and Zahran are well-known products from this company. The electrical appliances factory has an annual production capacity of 2 million units, while the cookware factory produces 1.5 million pieces annually.
