Egypt, Arabtec to resume talks on housing project

Arabtec's chairman will meet officials of Egypt's housing ministry on Wednesday to renegotiate the terms of a $40 billion plan to build one million homes in that country, a source familiar with the matter said.
Dubai-listed Arabtec announced last March that it had reached agreement in principle with Egypt's army to build the homes at 13 locations around the country, on land provided by the armed forces.

But while that preliminary deal was with the army, Arabtec's subsequent negotiations for a final agreement have been with the Ministry of Housing, the source told Reuters on Tuesday.

The two sides agreed terms late last month, but the contract which Arabtec subsequently received included less attractive terms for the company than it had approved, the source said.

The ministry had agreed to grant Arabtec the land upon which the project would be built, and in return the construction firm would give a certain proportion of the completed housing units to the ministry in lieu of payment.

But the ministry has now demanded that it be given a much higher proportion of units than the two parties originally agreed, prompting Arabtec chairman Khadem Abdulla al-Qubaisi to fly to Cairo to resume talks on Wednesday, the source said.