Samsung Electronics Egypt started negotiating with the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to establish a factory to manufacture its smartphones and Internet of Things devices in technological zones.

An official in the ministry told Daily News Egypt that the company started negotiations with the government several months ago, and that the investment incentives needed by the company to manufacture its mobile phones in Egypt are being discussed.

In 2013, Samsung Electronics Egypt established a factory to manufacture screens in Beni Suef in Upper Egypt, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa, with investments of over EGP 1.8bn. Through establishing the factory, the company aims to make Egypt an export centre for Samsung products.

The factory produced 500,000 television and computer screens by the end of 2013; 79% of the produced computer screens went to the local market, while the remaining 21% were exported.

Samsung’s factory enables about 1,000 direct jobs and thousands of indirect jobs for Egyptians living inside and outside Beni Suef. Samsung chose Beni Suef to establish the factory due to its awareness of the big role Upper Egypt and its residents can play in developing the local industrial sector and also making Egypt a regional sector leader.