Red Sea investment committee resumes work after about 16 years
The governorate's Supreme Investment Committee reviewed 80 project files on Sunday — 55 in Hurghada, 16 in Marsa Alam, seven in Shalatin and two in Ras Ghareb — with final checks still to come.
26 October 2026
The Red Sea Governorate's Supreme Investment Committee met on Sunday, resuming its work after a halt of about 16 years, and went through 80 investment project files from four cities.
The files cover 55 projects in Hurghada, 16 in Marsa Alam, seven in Shalatin and two in Ras Ghareb. None has been decided: each file now goes to a final examination and evaluation to establish whether it meets the required conditions before any decision is taken.
The committee set out what that final review covers:
- building conditions
- the investor's financial standing
- economic feasibility studies
- approved budgets
- previous work
Red Sea Governor Walid El-Barqi and committee members also discussed how competing applications should be ranked against one another, and which documents an investment file must contain to show that an investor is serious.
Craftsmen's zone under review
The governor asked for height restrictions in the craftsmen's zone to be reviewed together with the Engineering Operations Authority, the city council, civil aviation authorities and the Industrial Development Authority, so that projects match the approved conditions.
Members discussed a proposal to divide the craftsmen's zone into specialised sectors, grouping similar industrial activities together and setting aside separate areas for warehouses and logistics services. The proposal would be studied with the relevant authorities.
The meeting also raised the environmental and operational effects of industrial activity — emissions and factory waste, and their impact on neighbouring businesses — as something to weigh when industries are distributed inside the zone.
Two further items were on the agenda: a proposed mechanism for collecting the cost of on-site inspection committees through the General Authority for Government Services, and a letter from the Industrial Development Authority answering a number of industrial activity applications.
The committee closed by confirming that files already given initial approval still face a full final review of their building, financial and technical conditions. No timetable was given for those decisions.