EGYPT – Italian food retailer Sopria Holding is seeking to enter the Egyptian market, making it its third foreign base to operate in after Switzerland and Malta.
Sopria Holding through its subsidiary Crai Retail Modeling, produces and distributing food products in Italy and Europe.
To initiate its plans of venturing into the African nation, Sopria has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Egyptian distribution company GRG, witnessed by Chairman of the Internal Trade Development Agency Ibrahim Ashmawy.
Ashmawy explained that the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade has a keen interest in facilitating procedures for investors to establish logistical areas and major chain stores, reports Egypt Independent.
He said that the signing of this memorandum of understanding is the fruit of the conferences held in Naples and Cairo over the past few months, under the auspices of the Ministry of Supply and the Internal Trade Development Agency in coordination with the CISE – with the participation of major investors in Italy and Europe.
To further investment in Egypt’s retail sector, the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade and the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities signed in August 2019 an agreement with UAE’s Lulu Group to inject US$500 million to establish four major hypermarkets in New Cairo, October and El-Obour creating 8,000 jobs.
According to reports by Egypt Today, it was agreed that the four projects will be built by the Urban Communities Authority within 12 months, with Lulu Group starting to manage and operate the projects in a period of 3 to 6 months from the date of completion of the construction.
The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities and the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade have been coordinating to study the selection of six other sites for the establishment of additional commercial centres in a number of new cities.
The Egyptian retail foods sector size is around US$15 billion, according to a GAIN report by USDA, which is projected to growth by 15 – 20 percent over the next five years.
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