Egypt’s Minister of Industry, Khaled Hashem, held an extensive meeting with representatives of Elaraby Group, led by CEO Mohamed El-Araby, to review the company’s current operations, future expansion plans, and the challenges facing its production activities.
During the meeting, the group outlined its upcoming projects in New Quesna City, with planned investments of approximately $480m over the next five years. Discussions focused on strengthening Egypt’s home appliance industry, increasing export volumes, and raising the local content ratio of products–reaching up to 90% in several cases.
Officials noted that this progress reflects the group’s strategy to localise supply chains, reduce reliance on imports, lower input costs, and enhance value addition within the Egyptian economy, while improving the global competitiveness of locally manufactured products.
The meeting also addressed the group’s research and development (R&D) activities. The company operates certified R&D centres dedicated to product development and innovative designs aligned with international standards and evolving market demands. These efforts draw on skilled Egyptian talent, reinforcing the link between scientific research and industrial application, and advancing technology transfer and localisation.
Hashem said the Ministry of Industry has reached an agreement with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research on a new framework to better align academic research outputs with industrial needs. The framework rests on two main pillars: first, gathering and evaluating research proposals relevant to key industrial sectors, assessing their technical and economic feasibility, and presenting viable projects to manufacturers for implementation; and second, systematically identifying factories’ needs–whether in product development, process optimisation, or technology localisation–and directing universities and research centres to address these priorities.
He added that sustainable funding mechanisms will be developed in coordination with the Ministry of Finance to support priority applied research projects and translate findings into industrial applications. The initiative aims to deepen local manufacturing, increase value added, and strengthen the competitiveness of Egyptian industry in regional and global markets.
The minister reaffirmed the ministry’s full commitment to supporting the group’s expansion in Egypt, pledging to facilitate licensing procedures, coordinate with relevant authorities to resolve potential challenges, and provide comprehensive backing to accelerate project implementation and production. He also noted that field visits to the group’s factories are planned to monitor progress and review the execution of new investments.
