Egypt shifts to local transport manufacturing
The strategy is being implemented through partnerships with global companies and under direct state leadership.
More broadly, support for manufacturing across sectors is a core pillar of Egypt’s new economic narrativ, which charts a path for the economy through 2030 with targets including raising real GDP growth to 7 percent and creating 1.5 million new jobs over the next five years.
The industrial shift
Kamel El-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport, recently announced that Egypt had entered a new phase in its industrial strategy.
The country no longer merely imports trains and metro cars but has begun manufacturing them domestically. He said the transport sector has become “one of the engines of economic development”.
Localizing strategic industries is central to Egypt’s broader economic agenda, aimed at meeting rising domestic demand, curbing the import bill and positioning the country as a competitive exporter. As part of this vision, the government is targeting an ambitious increase in export revenues, seeking to surpass $146 billion by 2030.
The minister stated that SEMAF, the local railway factory and part of the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI), has already begun manufacturing train cars and will soon start assembling high-speed train units, while NERIC is preparing to become a regional train-manufacturing hub. This coincides with new investment from Coleway, which has begun producing train and bus interiors in Egypt.
“We will not allow any serious project to be stalled, and we will offer industrial land at symbolic prices, or even free, to support genuine investors,” the minister said.
Local manufacturing of the high-speed electric Velaro train
The Ministry of Industry and Transport is also preparing to launch a new phase of international industrial co-operation by establishing a dedicated factory for domestic production of the high-speed electric Velaro train.
The project is considered one of the state’s most significant achievements in localising modern transport manufacturing and advancing its transition towards clean and sustainable technology.
The Velaro, powered by clean electric energy, represents a major upgrade to Egypt’s rail system and aligns with the state’s green transformation strategy and Vision 2030.
“The Velaro project embodies a new phase of industrial integration between Egypt and its international partners. The ministry is working on establishing a fully integrated factory to produce high-speed electric trains in the coming period, aiming to localize modern technology and transfer global expertise to local talent,” El-Wazir said during the sixth Smart Transport, Logistics, and Industry Exhibition and Conference.