Egypt Approves Establishing Free Zone, Tourist Port in Ras El Hekma

The Egyptian Cabinet, headed by Mostafa Madbouly, approved during its meeting, Wednesday, the establishment of a private free zone and another investment zone in the city of Ras El Hekma, as part of several decisions related to the development plan for the city located on the northern coast in Matrouh Governorate.

A statement issued by the Cabinet explained that approval was given to establish a private free zone under the name “Ras Al-Hekma Urban Development Project Company”, in addition to approval to establish an investment zone in Ras Al-Hekma City.

According to the statement, the decisions included approval of a draft decision to grant the Ras Al-Hekma Urban Development Project Company a single approval, or what is called the golden license, for both the investment zone and private free zone projects, as well as approval of the Prime Minister’s draft decision to form the Board of Directors for the Ras Al-Hekma Investment Zone.

The statement added that the decisions also included approval for the company to establish a specialized international tourist port in the new city of Ras Al-Hekma.

Last February, the Egyptian government and ADQ Holding, the sovereign investment company in Abu Dhabi, signed a contract to develop the city of Ras El Hekma with a total foreign direct investment worth $35 billion.

The Egyptian Prime Minister said at the time that the investments in the project, of which Egypt will receive 35% of the proceeds, include transferring Emirati deposits in Egypt worth $11 billion into the Egyptian pound for use in developing the project.