CAIRO — Cityscape Egypt will take place in Cairo on March 31-April 3, 2017 at the Cairo International Convention Centre, and will be preceded by the Cityscape Conference, which takes place on March 29-30. Cityscape Egypt has recently held the annual business breakfast and tackled the medium-term growth prospects for Egypt. The outlook was more upbeat, following calls for government and the private sector to work closely together to boost real estate. Real estate stakeholders and industry experts who attended the business breakfast were confident that Egypt's plans to improve the real estate sector will translate into steady flows of investment and assure a sustainable growth trajectory, despite economic headwinds. Fathallah Fawzy, co-founder of Mena Group and the chairman of this year's Cityscape Egypt Business Breakfast, said it is vital that the government and private sector work together to realize the country's sustainability and urban development Vision 2030. Fawzy's statements were echoed by Egypt›s Assistant Minister of Housing for Technical Affairs, Khaled Abbas, who said "implementing the Egyptian strategic plan for doubling the inhabited area by 14% till 2052 requires government and private sector cooperation, in which the government will rely mainly on private sector investors." Abbas cited the role of the private sector in boosting the country's real estate market in 2017, and highlighted the Ministry of Housing's plans to offer land to investors in new cities in the country, including Al-Alamein City. The business breakfast also addressed the status of mega-projects in 2017, including the Suez Canal, the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of Egypt's main sources of foreign currency. Ahmed Darwish, Chairman of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone, said in a panel discussion that "there are five key sectors which are considered partners in the development of the Suez Canal Economic Zone — these are manufacturing, commercial, logistical, ports, and real estate. These will ensure a fully integrated project that will achieve the anticipated economic growth during the coming period." Darwish added that the authority is currently seeking cooperation with real estate developers to develop integrated urban communities in East Port Said, Qantara, and Ain Sokhna.
