Al-Ghurair Group of the UAE, along with a number of other UAE investors, has said that it will pump $100 million in a project by the Canal Sugar Company to establish an agricultural and industrial beet sugar project in western Minya, Upper Egypt, with a total investment of $1 billion.

According to feasibility studies, the shares of the non-Egyptian partners in the company will reach $210 million.

In a statement on Thursday, Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr asserted that her ministry is continuously following up all the current investment projects and encouraging more foreign direct investments in the Egyptian market. 

Nasr said that this project is an unprecedented step in the field of industrial agricultural investment as it will contribute to bridging the gap between sugar production and consumption in Egypt.

She also said that 180,000 feddans will be used in western Minya to cultivate sugar beet, adding that the entire harvest will be used to operate the Minya-based sugar factory, which will be the world's biggest in producing sugar from beet.

The project will contribute to covering 75 percent of the local market's supply with 1 million tonnes of sugar annually.