President Sisi urges investors to support 150 key projects in Egypt

He said the projects are "of critical importance" to the country as they would help promote local production, reduce the government's import bill and generate savings of around $25 billion.

 El-Sisi spoke during the Story of Homeland Conference, which kicked off Saturday at the New Administrative Capital.

Among those projects is establishing a tire factory that, according to the president, could save the country approximately $250 million annually, given that it currently spends around $700-$800 million on imported car tires.

The government will grant incentives like tax exemptions for several years for any company seeking to invest in these projects, Minister of Industry and Trade Ahmed Samir said in a comment during the event.

President El-Sisi also highlighted that the government opted for establishing industrial complexes rather than allocating lands for investors rather than letting them struggle with the permit procedures.

“We decided not to let investors struggle with permits. Instead, we thought of creating projects and complexes" with already licensed projects," added the president.

The government changed its approach after it found that investment projects were implemented over only 10 percent of nearly 30 million square metres of land allocated by the government for business people.

According to Samir, about 17 industrial complexes have been recently established in 15 governorates, costing EGP 10 billion.