The Board of Directors of the New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), chaired by Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities Sherif El-Sherbini, has approved amendments to the mechanisms for processing investor requests to allocate land for various activities in new cities. These amendments align with decisions made in NUCA sessions 180 (2023) and 186 (2024).
Minister El-Sherbini emphasized that foreign investment opportunities in new cities, in U.S. dollars from abroad, must be submitted through the Foreign Investment Portal. Eligible applicants include foreign-owned companies, companies owned by Egyptians abroad, and Egyptian companies with a majority of foreign ownership. Only companies that have been established for at least a year and have branches abroad can apply.
The portal allows investors to request investment opportunities for all activities, except for industrial workshops. Applications can only be submitted between the 1st and 7th of each month, with responses provided by the 20th of the same month via SMS or email. Investors must pay a 5% deposit of the land’s value in U.S. dollars from an overseas account within a designated period if an opportunity is available.
Investors are also required to submit financial and economic feasibility documents, as well as proof of experience in their respective fields. A $500 non-refundable application fee is charged, payable through international payment methods such as Visa or MasterCard.
The financial sector of NUCA will verify the payment within 10 working days, and a specialized committee will review the company’s documents before presenting them to the NUCA Board for approval. Upon approval, the investor is notified officially through the portal.
The regulations restrict the allocation of more than one plot of land to newly established companies (less than three years old) and no more than three plots to established companies (more than three years old). Investors are required to demonstrate the seriousness of their projects by acquiring the necessary ministerial decisions or completing significant construction milestones.
Registration on the Foreign Investment Portal requires the creation of an account under the name of the company’s owner or one of its founders. All documents, including the commercial register, tax card, and company formation contract, must be authenticated by the Egyptian consulate in the country of the applicant.
This initiative reflects Egypt’s continued efforts to streamline investment processes and attract foreign investors while ensuring the proper execution of development projects in the country’s new cities.
