The Egyptian government has received an offer from a Chinese company to operate and manage the Central Business District (CBD) at the New Administrative Capital, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly told cabinet members on Monday.

The Chinese offer included a proposed programme for operating the district, according to a statement released by the cabinet.

The cabinet statement was light on the offer's details.

The cabinet, however, added that the Chinese company's representatives said the CBD will attract major international companies given the availability of the necessary facilities that will help provide stability for these entities.

Madbouly instructed the government to study the offer before giving the final decision.

"We are in talks over the operation and management plan for the CBD to ensure it is well-managed and operated in line with the nature of the [New Administrative 

Capital] project that is being implemented per the latest global systems… according to the directives of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi," the statement quoted Madbouly as saying. 

New commercial area in Egypt

The CBD, which will be home to 20 towers, is being built in cooperation between the Ministry of Housing, represented by the New Urban Communities Authority, and the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), one of the largest construction companies in the world.

The district includes the near-complete 78-floor Iconic Tower, almost 400-metre-high, which is set to be the tallest building in Africa.

Work on the tower officially began in May 2018 with the digging of the land, while the construction of the building started in February 2019. In February 2021, Egypt announced that 60 floors were completed.

Investments in the CBD project are estimated at $3 billion.

The New Administrative Capital, a mega 700-square-kilometre city, located 60km from Cairo in the area between the Cairo-Suez and Cairo-Ain Sokhna roads, was launched in 2015 and is set to house 6.5 million people.

Thousands of public sector employees are scheduled to be relocated to the new capital in the near future.

Government offices were due to be relocated to the new capital by mid-2020, but the step was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.