Egypt, Norwegian Jotun Paints explore higher local sourcing
Jotun Paints is a major Norwegian manufacturer of paints, marine coatings, and protective coatings, leading in premium home decoration, commercial architecture, and industrial projects.
These plans were discussed in a meeting between Egypt’s Minister of Industry, Khaled Hashem, and the Managing Director of Jotun Paints Egypt, Ibrahim Al-Shami, to discuss the company’s current projects in Egypt and review expansion plans in the upcoming period.
Moreover, the firm affirmed its intention to expand its investments in Egypt, as it has been one of Jotun’s most strategic and successful markets in localizing the fire-resistant paint industry across the Middle East and Africa over the past 40 years. These products are then exported to several Arab, African, and American markets, Al-Shami said.
According to the minister, the chemicals industry is among the key industries in Egypt’s 2030 National Industrial Strategy, due to its link to the country’s construction sector, which generated $120 billion worth of awarded construction contracts in 2025, with an additional $565.5 billion in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, the strategy aims to boost competitiveness, expand production, and tackle structural problems in the manufacturing sector. It also works to adopt practical measures to support production and increase the industrial sector's contribution to the GDP from 14 percent to 20 percent by 2030
The chemicals industry is also linked to major state-implemented national projects, as well as the industry’s capacity to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and create job opportunities.
It’s also worth noting that Egypt ranked ninth globally for FDI inflows in 2024, drawing about $47 billion, up sharply from 32nd place a year earlier.
In the first quarter of fiscal year 2025/26, net FDI inflows reached roughly $2.4 billion, including $9.3 billion directed to petroleum and mineral resources, of which $1.57 billion represented new foreign investments.
Furthermore, Egypt has been improving the appeal of its investment environment, launching an FDI strategy with the World Bank and incentives for industrial projects, introducing controls to support investors and the state, while allowing for more flexibility in industrial lands leasing and grace periods, and activity changes to deepen local manufacturing.
This is to shift the country’s reliance towards sectors with high productivity rates in support of the national economy.
Egypt has also been strengthening its manufacturing sector, a key sector in its economic narrative, to attract $24.6 billion in annual FDI, and increase non-oil exports by 15–20 percent annually by 2030.
The country expects its economic growth to reach 5.4 percent in the 2026/27 fiscal year, its investment-to-GDP ratio to reach 17 percent, with manufacturing expected to be the largest contributor to growth, accounting for 29 percent.