Egypt's Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, Sherif El-Sherbiny, participated in the Conference of Egyptians Abroad, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptian Expatriates Affairs. El-Sherbiny highlighted Egypt's significant strides in urban development over the past decade, emphasizing the investments and future returns from national projects aimed at achieving sustainable urban development goals. These efforts address long-standing issues, meet the current and future needs of Egyptian citizens, improve quality of life, and create new development centres to attract local investments, compete globally, and restore Egypt's position on the global investment map. The Minister affirmed the Ministry of Housing's full support for Egyptians abroad, highlighting initiatives to launch housing projects overseas and promote real estate investment. These initiatives include encouraging the export of real estate to Egyptians working abroad, the Beit Al Watan projects, allocating land in dollars from abroad, and enhancing marketing strategies to engage citizens living abroad. Additionally, the ministry is developing the New Urban Communities Authority website to continuously offer land. El-Sherbiny stated that the Beit Al Watan project for Egyptians abroad was launched in 2012 through a dedicated website. The project aims to provide land and housing units to citizens living abroad, allowing them to secure suitable housing in their homeland and support the Egyptian economy through dollar remittances. Since its inception, nine phases of the Beit Al Watan project have been launched, allocating thousands of residential and service land plots, various types of housing units, villas, and cemeteries, with total sales reaching approximately $7.3 billion. The allocation of housing units in the tenth phase is currently underway, and new phases, including housing units and land plots, are being prepared for announcement. El-Sherbiny also addressed the urbanization problems in Egypt before 2014, such as high building and population densities, poor infrastructure, and low sanitation service coverage. To tackle these issues, the state has worked to meet the housing needs of Egyptian citizens by providing suitable housing. The Minister reviewed the proposed developmental areas within the National Strategic Plan for Urban Development – Egypt 2052, which includes 15 developmental zones and the Fourth Generation Cities currently being implemented. There are 24 cities planned to accommodate 32 million people, distributed as follows: nine cities in Greater Cairo, six in Upper Egypt, five in the Suez Canal and Sinai region, and four in the Delta. Additionally, 14 cities are being planned for future implementation. El-Sherbiny highlighted some of the developmental benefits and returns from Fourth Generation Cities and national projects, notably the New Alamein City, which includes residential projects catering to various segments of society, service projects, and the investment and developmental returns from national projects in the North West Coast, including the development of Ras El Hikma. The Minister of Housing also mentioned the financial investment returns from fourth-generation cities and national projects, noting that the real estate sector contributes 20% to the GDP, with the sector's contribution rising from EGP 57bn in 2018 to approximately EGP 124bn in 2023.
