Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development and Environment, and Hanan Magdy, Governor of New Valley, laid the cornerstone for a date-processing complex in the Shorbagy Oasis area, marking a key step towards shifting from agricultural production to agro-processing and maximising added value.
The ceremony was attended by Amr Abdel-Moneim, Head of the Upper Egypt Development Authority; Mohamed Kegk, Deputy Governor of New Valley; several members of the Senate; and the governorate’s executive and popular leaders.
Awad and Magdy received a briefing on the project, which covers approximately 64,000 square metres and has reached around 30% completion. The complex will feature an integrated system for handling date crops and production inputs, including lines for receiving, sorting, grading and preparing dates, alongside automated processing and manufacturing lines equipped with imported machinery and production systems.
It will also include packaging lines, handling and transportation equipment, and storage and refrigeration facilities with a capacity of approximately 20,000 tonnes.
The project’s infrastructure will rely on modern irrigation systems and solar energy, alongside efforts to diversify crops and introduce varieties offering higher economic returns.
The wider project includes more than 650,000 palm trees at different stages of growth and fruit production, including approximately 300,000 fruit-bearing trees. It aims to increase the total number of palms to one million, producing a range of date varieties, alongside strategic crops, fruit, olives, and medicinal and aromatic plants.
The complex is expected to create around 1,500 jobs across the agricultural and industrial value chains, helping strengthen the competitiveness of Egyptian products and expand date production, processing and exports to domestic and international markets.
Awad said the government sought to bring about a qualitative leap in agro-processing in New Valley Governorate to strengthen the competitiveness of Egyptian products in global markets and generate greater economic returns from the governorate’s leading strategic crop.
She added that the complex aimed to integrate post-harvest activities, processing, packaging, storage, market preparation and export operations, linking agricultural production with industry and date-related logistics services.
Awad noted that the complex would serve as the processing and value-addition hub within the agricultural production system at Shorbagy Oasis, covering the entire value chain, from cultivation and harvesting to sorting and grading, handling and cold storage, packaging and processing, marketing and exports.
For her part, Magdy said the project would also include a weighbridge to facilitate the receipt, handling and shipment of dates, as well as industrial facilities for producing baraneek packaging crates, zamat sacks and white bags used to cover date bunches.
She added that the project formed part of the governorate’s efforts to maximise the economic value of its date crop, strengthen the competitiveness of Egyptian products and increase local added value by encouraging date-based industries and improving product quality to meet export market requirements.
