Cityscape Business Breakfast: Real Estate Experts Converge ahead of Egypt Economic Summit

The first quarter of 2015 is set to instigate an historic period of change as experts gather to determine new methods for drawing in domestic and international investment at the Cityscape Egypt Business Breakfast on 10 February.

Taking place just one month ahead of the internationally anticipated Egypt Economic Development Conference, the Business Breakfast in Cairo is a precursor for all those involved in the real estate and finance sectors as government prepares to launch their ‘Four Year Programme for Investment and Development’ in the coming weeks.

With a keynote speech from His Excellency Mostafa Madbouly, Minister of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, an anticipated 200 senior stakeholders are poised to witness updates and reforms to investment laws and hear the latest opinions on local and foreign investment at this first major industry gathering of the year.

“The Cityscape Egypt Business Breakfast is taking place at an important time. The country is gearing up for a major investment conference in 2015 with high hopes to attract foreign investors. The construction sector and therefore real estate is a natural beneficiary of investment led growth. ” said Alsherif Wahdan, Executive Director, Capstone Corporate Capital and Capstone Advisory and headline speaker at the Business Breakfast.

The building and construction sector is expected to attract investments of around USD 7.3 billion this year, making it one of the country’s biggest revenue sources and driving the continued expansion of related industries including metals, cement, furniture and power generation, according to international reports.

Forthcoming Business Breakfast panelist Ahmed Badrawi, Managing Director at real estate development company SODIC explains: “The importance of the real estate industry really came to the fore over the last few years. Whilst various pillars of the economy struggled, our sector continued to perform, highlighting several key points: the real demand and shortage of supply of residential units, the lack of availability of organized retail and the demand for high quality commercial spaces. As the economy turns around and begins to grow again, we expect investment in our sector to be one of the primary drivers.”

The fifth edition of the annual Business Breakfast which takes place at the Four Seasons Hotel at Nile Plaza will focus on specific ways to capitalize on mega-projects and GCC investments in the current climate. In 2014 the event welcomed several government leaders including H.E. Ibrahim Mahlab, Prime Minister and former Minister of Housing and H.E. Osama Saleh, Minister of Investment at the time.
Panel speaker Eng. Hussein Sabbour, Chairman at Al Ahly for Real Estate Development believes the 2015 edition of the Business Breakfast will be the most important yet. “After Abdel Fattah al-isi was elected as President of Egypt with very high majority of votes, the business environment has changed to move very rapidly towards starting new major projects. This has also affected all sectors of investment and commerce to grow as well. Based on the previous texts, I expect that Cityscape Egypt 2015 will be much more attractive for developers as well as for clients”

The Business Breakfast will also provide a public platform from which to reiterate the recently revised dates for Cityscape Egypt, the country’s largest real estate exhibition that takes place annually at the Cairo International Convention Centre. In order to ensure the event takes place post – parliamentary elections, the Cityscape Egypt exhibition will run on 16-19 September 2015, with the Egypt Real Estate Summit hosted on 14-15 September and the Cityscape Awards on 16 September.

The new dates have been agreed in close coordination with clients and partners and Egypt’s key developers are currently preparing themselves to once again come out in force and showcase their latest developments at what is set to be the largest ever edition of the leading property event.

Cityscape’s exhibitions, conferences and seminars bring together key industry decision makers, international investors, developers, government and investment authorities, leading architects, designers, and consultants active in the design and construction of real estate.