Newcomers from the country to the capital notice immediately that the streets are not paved with gold. Yet, boardroom talk about plans still on the drawing board focuses on the creation of a ‘gold city’.
In fact, the government wants Egypt to become the gold centre for the region.
In other words, the concept of a gold complex with storage facilities and workshops is taking shape. At such a place, goldsmiths can learn their trade.
The government is ready to offer all financial resources to establish the city with the international and modern standards and technologies to reflect Egypt’s ancient civilisational history.
Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCOC) Chairman Ibrahim el-Araby said as much, adding that the Sukari Gold Mine (SGM) in the Eastern Desert is one of the 20 largest mines in the world.
SGM has earned $550 million over the past 10 years.
El-Araby told the local press that the private sector is a key partner in executing this project, as Egyptian companies have already started to change the gold industry from traditional craftsmanship to an industrial one using the latest manufacturing techniques.
The gold city project is an important step for the localisation of the gold and jewelry industry in line with government efforts to encourage all national economic sectors and develop exports.
Five contracts for gold exploration worth a total $13 million for 13 sectors have already been signed between the Egyptian General Authority for Mineral Resources and Canadian and Egyptian companies.
The Authority for Jewellery Stamping and Scales Chairman Abdullah Muntaser said ‘gold city’ will bring together workshops in el-Saghah of Khan el-Khalili.
Nady Naguib, Secretary-General of Gold Branch at the Federation of the Egyptian Chambers of Commerce told The Egyptian Gazette: “We will be an open market for the world as the products will not be expensive.”
“A school dedicated to teaching gold jewellery industry skills will be established in the city,” Naguib said.
The new city will include a factory for refining gold ore.
“This new plant would save a large amount of hard currency and offer a great quantity of gold, enough to produce jewellery for export,” Naguib said.
The city seeks to relocate gold merchants and workshops from el-Sagha as part of the national project to develop Old Cairo.
Some gold dealers will benefit from this city by opening new branches in the new city to expand their business, Naguib told this paper.
Hani Milad, head of the General Division of Gold and Jewelry at the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce, said ‘gold city’ would offer strong support for the manufacture of jewellery in all its forms.
The step is meant to reduce imports and increase exports, with a view to putting Egypt on the list of the most important countries for production and manufacturing of gold, Milad told this newspaper.
He said that the FEDCOC will launch an international exhibition next month to bring together jewellers and goldsmiths to display their latest production methods.
The event will be held under the auspices of the prime minister in co-operation with the ministries of supply and trade and industry.
Egypt intends to establish its first gold refinery, which will cost $100 million, as a part of its strategy to develop its mining sector, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Mulla recently announced.
The minister added that Egypt is producing around 15 tonnes of gold annually from SGM and still has great potentials in the Red Sea and South Egypt.
El-Mulla referred to Egypt’s efforts to increase the contribution of the mining sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) to 5 per cent over the next two decades.
In the meantime, the government is currently developing the Golden Triangle, the richest area for iron, copper, gold and phosphates.
The Golden Triangle lies in Abu Tartour on the outskirts of Qena governorate in Upper Egypt and is home to a mining area rich in phosphate reserves, estimated at almost one billion tonnes.
The project would place Egypt on the international map for mining.
