Kamel Al-Wazir, Egyptian Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, inaugurated on Saturday the expansions of Kraft Heinz – Cairo Food Industries factory in 6th of October, in West Cairo. US Ambassador to Egypt Herro Mustafa, Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Hassan El-Khatib, Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Sherif Farouk, and Zone President, West and East Emerging Markets at Kraft Heinz Global Bruno Keller attended the opening ceremony. In his speech during the inauguration ceremony, Al-Wazir said that the factory now covers an area of approximately 30,000 sqm. The factory has added seven new and advanced production lines, aiming to double its production capacity to reach 53,000 tonnes annually, with around $50m in direct foreign investments. The goal is to increase the export rate from 12% to 20%. The factory's area increased from 20,000 sqm to 30,000 sqm. The seven new production lines include a bottle filling line, a jar filling line, a ketchup production line, a mayonnaise production line, two sachet filling lines, and a Doypack filling line. The authorized capital of the factory is EGP 6bn, with a local content rate of 90%. Currently, 12% of the production is exported, with plans to increase this to 20%. The factory employs 600 workers. Al-Wazir pointed out that the factory exports its products to Arab, African, and European markets, as part of the group's plan to transform its only factory in the Middle East and Africa into a regional hub for manufacturing and exporting. The goal is to raise the local content of its products to 90% while training and developing skilled Egyptian labour, which can be leveraged in the food industries sector in Egypt. Keller said: "Emerging markets are key to Kraft Heinz's long-term growth. Moreover, expanding our presence across the MEA region will bring us even closer to our ambition of leading the future of food." He added that the participation in the factory's inauguration aligns with the Ministry of Industry's plan to support and encourage increasing production capacities of factories, aiming to meet local market needs, especially in the food industries sector, and subsequently export high-quality products abroad at competitive prices. Minister El-Khatib highlighted that the new expansions, which include the inauguration of new production lines, reflect the company's strong confidence in Egypt's investment climate. This step marks an important move toward increasing the production and export of Kraft Heinz products to global markets. The Ministry of Industry has developed the National Industrial Strategy (2024-2030), which outlines a future vision based on Egypt's assets, including its regional position, strategic location, diverse resources, advanced infrastructure, evolving financial and monetary policies, investment incentives and guarantees, growing market size, and key enablers for the development of green industries and industrial sectors qualified to deepen local manufacturing, Al-Wazir disclosed. He pointed out that this strategy included an urgent plan to advance Egyptian industry, especially the food industry being one of the most important priority sectors. It is based on seven main pillars. The first pillar focuses on deepening industrialization by establishing new factories to meet part of the local market's needs and reduce dependency on imported production inputs. This aims to attract Egyptian, Arab and foreign investors, providing high-quality products at competitive prices compared to imports. According to Al-Wazir, the second pillar involves expanding the industrial base to increase exports, particularly in green industries that rely on locally available raw materials or those for which production technology is accessible, such as iron, aluminium, etc. This is based on Egypt's natural resources (agricultural, industrial, and mining), offering high-quality products at competitive prices in export markets. Meanwhile, the third pillar includes the immediate start of reactivating and assisting idle or closed factories, and supporting struggling factories under construction to resume operations, thereby increasing industrial activity and production capacity. Additionally, the fourth pillar emphasizes improving the quality of Egyptian products to compete in the local market or for export to the global market through the relevant entities of the Ministry of Industry. He added that the fifth pillar focuses on employment for production, contributing to reducing unemployment rates and raising the standard of living for Egyptian families. The sixth pillar emphasizes training and developing human resources and technical labour through the Ministry's training institutions, research centres, and Egyptian universities, to enhance their skills and professionalism, explained that the seventh pillar involves keeping pace with modern industrial trends, digital transformation systems, and expanding green industries.
