The United Arab Emirates acquired the Ras El-Hikma area, which has 50 kilometers of beach, from Egypt. The UAE decided to buy this piece of land with 170 million square meters for 32.1 billion euros to contribute to the country’s deep crisis.
With this agreement, the UAE authorities will exploit the area, generating the construction of complexes for leisure and entertainment, as part of the aid for this territory affected by public spending, debt increase, and problems with the Suez Canal.
How is the Egypt-UAE arrangement?
This new project, led by the UAE, aims to harness the natural resources of this enclave in Ras El-Hikma to create a series of complexes that take advantage of tourism and the warmth of the area. In this program, the UAE is the one getting the most benefit, acquiring 65% of the profits, while the investor company will get the rest. Egypt, on the other hand, will only receive the money from the sale.
Ras al-Hikma is located west of Alexandria, between Marsa Matrouh and the city of New Alamein. According to official versions, the projected investment of 150 billion dollars during the development phase. This site will include residential districts, international hotels, tourist centers, entertainment spaces, and essential service facilities such as hospitals, schools, and universities.
The UAE government’s bet and Abu Dhabi’s influence on the project
The creation of this authentic city will be one of the major bets for the formation of a sustainable and developing economy. To this end, it will have a free economic zone for information technology industries and logistics centers, a central business district, a marina for yachts and tourist boats.
Within this planning, Abu Dhabi will also play a central role, with the influence of Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company, which will form an airport in the region, from which Egypt will receive a part of its income. It is expected that this site will attract 8 million tourists and also benefit from the new Dabaa nuclear power plant as a source of renewable energy.
With the help of the UAE: what is Egypt’s current situation?
The situation in Egypt is not the best, hence the need to establish agreements of this style to carry out a recovery accordingly. The country’s decline began when Abdelfatah El-Sisi came to power, who intensified public spending through roads, infrastructure, and all kinds of constructions financed by the state, which had to be sold to pay off the debt that puts them at a disadvantage with the rest of the nations. For this reason, the Egyptian authorities opted to create an administrative capital, outside of Cairo.
This is why a development of this type began with the influence of Emirati and Chinese governments and businessmen. Although this proposal began successfully, the Egyptian government is taking charge of the 58 billion dollars (52.350 billion euros) needed to carry out the project, so far.
