Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt is looking to invest EGP 746.2 billion into the industrial sector within the framework of the country’s sustainable development plan during the period starting 2018 to 2022.

The plan aims to direct investments worth nearly EGP 74.1 billion into the sector in fiscal year 2018/2019, planning minister Hala El Saeed said in a statement on Thursday.

The current year’s plan also targets the establishment of 5,000 new factories to provide around 150,000 jobs, she added.

She stressed that the industrial sector is one of the main sectors in Egypt that plays a key role in the national economy.

The Egyptian government highly depends on the sector to achieve a notable growth in the economy over the coming period, the minister pointed out.

For his part, vice planning minister Ahmed Kamali noted that the North African nation country seeks to raise investment rate in its gross domestic product (GDP) to reach 20%.

This increase will not achieve the sustainable development that Egypt seeks although investment rate already hit 15%, he added.