The Egyptian government will auction 1,000 plots of land, some five million sq m in total, for industrial developers. The auction will take place in two weeks according to Hatem Saleh, Minister of Industry and Foreign Trade, speaking on Thursday.

Saleh said the lands offered will include all the amenities required; the system involves giving the land to an investor who will build up and in turn sell it to companies. Salah presented the auction as part of government plans to encourage investment and improve employment; obtaining land for industrial use is one of the classical problems businessmen have faced in Egypt.

“Our main problem in this country is the lack of coordination between different governmental bodies,” Saleh told the audience, adding that the permission from the armed forces required for owning land has been a major problem.

Another, he said, is electricity, which is to see more extensive cuts next summer than were seen last summer, when power cuts were frequent. Some companies like Egypt Alumina, the biggest aluminium producer, suffered as a result. It may be in Egypt's benefit to start importing natural gas.