Strategic Plans for Six Industrial Zones in Sohag and Qena in Upper Egypt

In the context of Egypt’s Vision 2030 the Government commitment to sustainable development and job creation, the Upper Egypt Local Development Program (UELDP) is currently under implementation in Qena and Sohag. The Program is funded by a $500 million loan from the World Bank, in addition to direct contribution from the Government of Egypt. The Program aims to boost competitiveness, improve infrastructure, and create an enabling business climate to accelerate the growth of the private sector and job creation in Qena and Sohag. The Program has strong emphasis on the industrial sector as a key contributor to socio-economic development. Driven by the above, the Egyptian Industrial Development Authority (IDA) has started implementing a landmark project to “Prepare Strategic Plans for Six Industrial Zones in Sohag and Qena”. The Project will be implemented by a consortium of Chemonics Egypt Consultants, Alamar Consulting Group and Chemonics International.

The Project aims at developing comprehensive strategic plans for the development of six existing industrial zones in Qena and Sohag; namely Qeft and Alhew in Qena and West Gerga, West Tahta, Al Kawthar and Alahiwa in Sohag. The plans will identify the required services, zone improvements and expansions, as well as the needed incentives to attract new investors/support the growth of existing ones. The project will develop financial and economic models to determine the return of the development of the zones. The project will assess the environmental and social impacts of current and future Industrial activities in the targeted zones. The Project will also develop marketing plans to attract investors. The strategic plans will work on removing barriers and challenges through reflecting the vision and opinion of current and potential investors. The plans will build upon lessons learnt from previous Upper Egypt development initiatives, global best practices, and the recent experience of UELDP. A key to successful development of the strategic plans is the participation of the private sector and local communities.

The implementation will include careful assessment of challenges faced by over 500 MSMEs in startup, operation as well as in increasing their sustainability and competitiveness. The implementation also includes an assessment of regulatory and institutional aspects ensuring social and environmental sustainability in industrial zones planning, design and operation with recommended improvements. Hot spots from social and environmental perspective will be determined for the zones and further zone expansion will consider mitigation of social and environmental risks as well as improving the social and environmental impacts of the zones.