Tarek Shoukry, head of the Real Estate Development Chamber of the Federation of Egyptian Industries and deputy secretary of the House Committee on Housing, said the proposed initiative to sell real estate units for dollars is aimed only at foreigners and expatriates. He said it was not a target. For the Egyptians living in Egypt. The aim is to secure the inflow of foreign currency into the Egyptian market.
Shoukry added that the initiative requires full upfront payment of units in dollars rather than installments. Buyers will receive a full refund of the unit 10 years after purchase.
This initiative benefits all three parties involved: government, buyer, and developer. The government will ensure the inflow of foreign currency into the Egyptian economy and guarantee refunds to buyers after 10 years. Buyers benefit from cashback and recover the full amount of the unit. Shoukry said developers will also greatly benefit from this initiative as demand and sales of units will increase.
At the decision-maker conference “Real Estate” hosted by Sun & Sam Communications, Ahmed Shalaby, President and CEO of Tatouar Misr, said that the private sector is attracting hard currency to Egypt and has the potential to increase real estate. He said there is a need to focus on exports.
Shalaby said that 50% of private companies’ sales are generated outside Egypt, meaning that out of a total turnover of 1 trillion Egyptian pounds, 500 billion Egyptian pounds was achieved by expatriates and foreigners. added. “This revenue needs to be remitted to the country in dollars and not Egyptian pounds,” he said.
Amr Soliman, CEO of Mountain View, said that digitalization will be very helpful in the real estate investment field. He explained that although Egypt’s economy is growing, there are challenges for developers to address.
Soliman said Egypt has faced many crises since 2009, including rising prices and currency fluctuations. He said developers need to prepare for such crises and adapt to the challenges to succeed.
Abdallah Salam, CEO of Madinat Masr, emphasized that Egypt’s real estate market is doing well despite the economic challenges facing the global economy. He emphasized that the real estate sector is the driving force of Egypt’s economy in every sense of the word.
“I’m not concerned about the dollar price, but the important thing is stability because it has a big impact on the real estate market,” Salam said. Even though some industries are completely shut down, real estate is in demand during the crisis. ”
Basel El Hini, the president of the Housing and Development Bank, said that there are no tourist facilities in Egypt as of now. He said that Egypt has large tourist cities in different regions, which contributes to increasing the number of tourists and attracting foreign exchange.
Mr. Elhini added that real estate development should be treated as tourism development in the future. In the next step, he said, land could become a source of revenue.
The real estate sector faces challenges and opportunities in real estate exports
“The idea of exporting Egyptian real estate works for Syrians, Yemenis and Sudanese because they need it to live in Egypt and invest in Egypt,” said Ehab Awad, vice president of AMG. Told. However, I don’t think the idea of exporting real estate in general has a chance. ”
Awad added that the state should provide the right environment for dollars to flow into the market.
Hesham Shukri, chairman of the Real Estate Export Council, said, “We need to sort out our thinking about the local real estate sector and analyze the target market.”
Shoukry pointed out that real estate sales to foreigners amounted to $15 million, but the problem is the availability of foreign currency, which no longer comes into Egypt, even in the parallel market.
“The goal of every expatriate is to build or buy a house or apartment. There is also a demand for real estate close to the sea. Therefore, the Red Sea is currently in high demand,” Shukri said. It pointed out.
Ahmed Ehab, CEO of Madar Development, said service units have been very successful in most countries of the world as they promote tourism. He pointed out that the more units the brand has, the more hotel nights it will spend in Egypt.
Mr. Ehab revealed that in the coming period there is a need to significantly increase participation in overseas exhibitions, especially in Arab countries and the Gulf region. He also said more benefits and incentives should be provided for foreigners to own real estate in Egypt.
Mohamed Samy Saad, chairman of the Egyptian Federation of Construction and Building Contractors, said that large-scale projects in the local real estate sector have recently begun to decline, and that the contracting sector has therefore begun to look for opportunities abroad. He said there was a need to cooperate with Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya and Turkey.
Samy predicted that many Egyptian companies will move abroad and be successful in the coming period. He said work is underway on a platform with Egyptian, Arab and African political parties.
Moatas Raslan, president of the Canada-Egypt Business Council (CEBC), said the province’s general policy towards real estate marketing is working well and is starting to make good decisions, such as offering citizenship and residency in exchange for national status. He said there was. buying real estate.
Raslan elaborates: “We need to think outside the box and not just focus on apartments, but also on developers. To provide facilities that meet the needs and requirements of buyers, tourism Coordination with the ministry is necessary. Previously, the market was very dry, but now new cities such as the New Administrative Capital and New Alamein have been born, and the scale has become huge, and the burden on developers has become extremely large. I did.”