Midar Joins Egypt’s Sovereign Fund

Engineer Ayman ElKousey, MIDAR Managing Director and CEO (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Engineer Ayman ElKousey, MIDAR Managing Director and CEO (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Midar Joins Egypt’s Sovereign Fund

Engineer Ayman ElKousey, MIDAR Managing Director and CEO (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Engineer Ayman ElKousey, MIDAR Managing Director and CEO (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The real estate developer El Mostakbal Urban Development (MIDAR) has been added to The Sovereign Fund of Egypt’s (TSFE) pre-initial public offering (IPO) fund. This move comes as the company aims to sell a stake to a strategic investor and list another portion on the stock exchange.

On Sunday, the company announced a change in its name and brand, rebranding itself as Midar. This decision was made to align with its ambitious plans and regional expansion.

Engineer Ayman ElKousey, MIDAR Managing Director and CEO explained that the company has been selected among the pioneering firms to join the Egyptian sovereign fund.

This selection was made to prepare the company for the sale of the state’s stake to a strategic investor and the subsequent listing of another portion on the Egyptian stock exchange.

During a Sunday press conference, ElKousey said: “We have allocated 5 billion Egyptian pounds for investments throughout the current year... and approximately 20 billion pounds over the next few years.”

The MIDAR CEO stated that the company’s ownership structure is comprised of major Egyptian financial entities; (Banque Misr, the National Bank of Egypt, Misr Capital Company, one of the investment arms of Banque Misr, the National Investment Bank), as well as a selection of the best Egyptian figure working in the field of urban development that all enjoy prestigious records of achievements in this field both within and outside Egypt.

According to ElKousey, the company owns a real estate portfolio spanning up to 11,000 acres, with the development of an additional 5,000 acres currently underway.

ElKousey stressed that the company had laid down an ambitious plan for augmentation within the Egyptian real estate market by applying an innovative concept in the field of advancing and operating comprehensive major cities at the highest international quality standards via making use of the latest techniques followed internationally in this domain with the support of specialized market studies that have been prepared by major international consultancy bureaus tailoring to investors and customers’ requirements equally.



Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

Riyadh and Tokyo to Launch Coordination Framework to Boost Cooperation

Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Saudi Arabia and Japan are close to unveiling a higher partnership council that will be headed by the countries’ leaderships in line with efforts to build a partnership that bolsters the technical transformation and joint research in clean energy, communications and other areas, revealed Saudi Ambassador to Japan Dr. Ghazi Binzagr.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the two countries will soon open a new chapter in their sophisticated strategic partnership.

The new council will be chaired by Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to push forward the Saudi-Japan Vision 2030, he added.

The council will elevate cooperation between the countries and pave the way for broader dialogue and consultations in various fields to bolster political, defense, economic, cultural and sports cooperation, he explained.

The two parties will work on critical technological partnerships that will focus on assessing and developing technologies to benefit from them, Binzagr said. They will also focus on the economy these technologies can create and in turn, the new jobs they will generate.

These jobs can be inside Saudi Arabia or abroad and provide employers with the opportunity to develop the sectors they are specialized in, he added.

Binzagr said Saudi Arabia and Japan will mark 70s years of relations in 2025, coinciding with the launch of Expo 2025 in Osaka in which the Kingdom will have a major presence.

Relations have been based on energy security and trade exchange with Japan’s need for oil. Now, according to Saudi Vision 2030, they can be based on renewable energy and the post-oil phase, remarked the ambassador.

Several opportunities are available in both countries in the cultural, sports and technical fields, he noted.

Both sides agree that improving clean energy and a sustainable environment cannot take place at the expense of a strong economy or quality of life, but through partnership between their countries to influence the global economy, he explained.

"For the next phase, we are keen on consolidating the concept of sustainable partnerships between the two countries in various fields so that this partnership can last for generations,” Binzagr stressed.

“I believe these old partnerships will last for decades and centuries to come,” he remarked.

Moreover, he noted that the oil sector was the cornerstone of the partnership and it will now shift to petrochemicals and the development of the petrochemical industry.