Egypt’s Tallest Building To Be Revealed

By Yasmine Samra, The Cairo Post

Egypt will unveil a project to build a 200-meter tower, which would be the nation’s highest, at the upcoming economic summit scheduled in March, Egypt’s Minister of Housing Moustafa Madbouly stated Wednesday.

The Zayed Crystal Spark project would be implement on a 798,000-square meter bloc in West Cairo’s Sheikh Zayed district and would be built through partnership between real estate developers and the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), said the minister without revealing the investment cost of the project.

“It is an administrative, commercial and entertainment project as it includes buildings for various purposes, in addition to the unique 200 meter-tower,” Madboly said.

Egypt hopes the long-awaited economic conference would lure fresh investments to boost its limping economy battered by political turmoil since the January 25 Revolution.

Madbouly announced earlier this month that the ministry has invited around 150 real estate developers in the private sector to attend the March conference.

The minister also promised in his speech at the Cityscape Egypt real estate event held in Cairo Feb.10 to offer new land blocs for real estate developers before the end of February, in an attempt to solve land shortages which can hinder investment projects in Egypt.

The real estate sector is a main contributor to Egypt’s economic growth, affecting more than 90 industries, and accounting for at least 8 percent of the country’s labor force. The sector represented 4.6 percent, Egypt’s GDP during the 2012/2013 fiscal year, roughly 80 billion EGP (U.S. $11.5 billion,) according to data from the Ministry of Housing.