Cairo: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly affirmed that supporting industry and its localization in Egypt is at the top of the state's priorities during the current and upcoming phases. The state is keen on providing all the necessary elements to support this direction, foremost among them being well-equipped infrastructure, with the goal of attracting both local and foreign investments in the various productive sectors prioritized by the Egyptian state.
According to State Information Service Egypt, this came during the Prime Minister's visit, along with his accompanying delegation, to the engineering glass factory of El-Araby Group, which was established in partnership with the Japanese company Toyohachi. The factory is built on an area of 20,000 square meters in the Quesna Industrial City in Monufia Governorate, with an investment of $25 million.
During the tour, the Prime Minister listened to a presentation by Eng. Ibrahim El-Araby, Chairman of the El-Araby Group, who explained that the factory produces building facade glass in various types, such as double-glazed glass, thermal glass, and curved glass, with a production capacity of 2 million square meters annually. The factory relies 100% on local components, with plans to export 50% of its output to markets in the Middle East and Africa. It provides around 300 direct job opportunities. El-Araby confirmed that they have started reducing the import bill for this product, supplying the local market in addition to exporting to foreign markets.
The tour of the engineering glass factory included inspecting the glass raw material storage area, glass cutting operations, and preparation stages, including a screen presentation to follow the cutting process. The delegation also inspected the train and metro glass manufacturing rooms, thermal processing furnaces, and viewed samples of the manufactured oven glass, along with demonstrations of glass drilling and engraving operations.
The Prime Minister also viewed an exhibition of glass-formed products, which included glass used in household appliances, architecture, vehicles, and trains. During the visit, Madbouly also inspected the planned site for a refrigerator factory, which is to be established on an area of 107,000 square meters, in partnership with the Japanese company Sharp, with planned investments of around $108 million and a target production capacity of 900,000 units annually. Together, the two projects are expected to create over 4,000 direct job opportunities.
For his part, Eng. Ibrahim El-Araby expressed his happiness at this important visit by the Prime Minister, the Minister of Education, and the Governor of Monufia, noting that it sends a strong message of encouragement to Egypt's national industry. He added that El-Araby Group's strategy is focused on industrial localization and increasing exports. He also stressed that the Egyptian consumer deserves to receive the product they dream of in terms of quality, technology, and after-sales service for all products bearing the El-Araby name. He pointed to the strategic partnerships El-Araby Group has established in recent years with major global brands trusted by Egyptians, such as Sharp (Japan).