Egypt's cabinet approves 'productive village' protocol to open state land and buildings for industry
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Egypt's cabinet has approved a cooperation protocol governing how land and unused state-owned buildings in villages will be offered and allocated for small and medium-sized industrial facilities under the 'Productive Village' initiative.
Egypt's cabinet has approved a proposed cooperation protocol between the ministries of Industry, Agriculture and Land Reclamation, and Local Development and Environment to implement the "Productive Village" initiative and regulate the offering and allocation of land and buildings designated for the project. The approval came at a cabinet meeting on Tuesday chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, as an implementation of directives issued by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at Egypt Forum 2026.
The initiative aims to establish industrial clusters in 1,000 villages by 2030, based on each village's comparative advantages, and seeks to transform rural communities from consumer centres into sustainable production hubs by establishing small and medium-sized industrial facilities on vacant land and unused state-owned buildings. It builds on infrastructure improvements delivered through the presidential Decent Life (Haya Karima) programme.
The protocol sets out the framework for cooperation and implementation procedures, including the designation of specific areas across governorates for industrial facilities suited to local conditions and targeted industries. Its implementation plan includes offering 1,000 investment opportunities by 2030 through 14 quarterly rounds, with around 100 to 150 opportunities in each round.
Under the agreement, ownership and oversight of the assets will remain with the respective government entities, while the Industrial Development Authority will handle the offering, allocation and industrial monitoring of the projects. The protocol provides for allocating assets through an annual usufruct system, with the authority responsible for launching the investment opportunities, and proposed incentives will be introduced to ensure the commitment of beneficiaries.