Egypt to invite investors for projects in ‘golden triangle’

Egypt is preparing a list of projects to show potential investors in its promising “golden triangle” area, home to nearly half the Arab country’s gold deposits.

The golden triangle, spanning over 9,000 square kilometres, is located in southeast Egypt and involves investments of more than $16 billion over 30 years.

Egypt, which is carrying out reforms to stimulate its economy and tackle persistent fiscal deficits, hopes the project will help spur foreign direct investment.

Prime minister Mostafa Madbouly reviewed plans to lure investment to the region during a meeting with ministers and other officials in the new administrative capital, the cabinet said on its website this week.

He instructed officials from the ministry of petroleum and mineral resources and the golden triangle economic zone to work closely together to “identify, develop, and promote” promising investment opportunities, particularly in the petroleum and mining sectors, the cabinet said in a statement.

Petroleum and mineral resources minister Karim Badawi said an inventory of viable investment opportunities in oil, natural gas and mining is being prepared to facilitate their marketing to investors and business leaders, it added.

The golden triangle is home to nearly 95 mineral deposits including gold, phosphates, copper, zinc, lead and limestone.

The gold deposits are officially estimated at 2,000 tonnes, nearly 40 percent of Egypt’s available gold reserves.

The triangle is also home to nearly a billion tonnes of phosphates, more than half Egypt’s reserves of the substance. It also contains 1.5 billion tonnes of glass sand and 230 billion tonnes of limestone, accounting for 30 percent and 40 percent of Egypt’s proven reserves of those two minerals.

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