Upper Egypt took the lion’s share of the industrial development in various fields under the current administration after years of neglect, Deputy Head of the Federation of Egyptian Industries’ Building Materials Chamber Kamal el-Desouki said in a statement Tuesday.
He said that setting up industrial projects in the Upper Egyptian governorates will help crease many jobs for youth as industry is the main driver for achieving sustainable development,
He said that for the first time there is a “real direction” to develop governorates in Upper Egypt, which have been neglected for a long time. 
Desouki said that Upper Egypt acquired 37 percent of the new industrial projects. He said industrial zones and small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been established there.
He stressed on the importance of SMEs in achieving economic growth, saying that the government should continue prioritizing SMEs because they represent 80-85 percent of the GDP of major industrial countries.
Egypt has been prioritizing the development of Upper Egypt recently. Government’s investments in northern Upper Egypt reached LE 6.92 billion during the current fiscal year 2017/18, representing 3.6 percent of total investments.
Minya governorate is the top recipient of these investments, with 48.9 percent, followed by Beni Seuf and Fayoum.
This month, President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi inaugurated a number of development projects in the Upper Egypt governorates, including housing projects and water stations.
