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RIYADH: Egypt has announced offering 1,386 fully serviced industrial plots across 23 governorates and 35 industrial zones, totaling 6.8 million sq. meters, in a bid to accelerate industrial development and attract local and foreign investment. 
The offering, part of the government’s 11th industrial land tender, will be conducted via the country’s digital platform from Sept. 1-11, the Ministry of Industry and Transport said in an official Facebook post. 
Plot sizes range from 240 sq. meters to 500,000 sq. meters and cover sectors including food, pharmaceuticals, and chemicals, as well as engineering, medical supplies, building materials, and textiles. 
The initiative underscores the state’s commitment to local production and sustainable industrial growth, coinciding with rising confidence in the Egyptian pound, with Standard Chartered noting in August that at least half of $12.5 billion in investment pledges from Qatar and Kuwait is expected to be disbursed by the end of 2025. 
“The tender is designed to provide flexible options for investors,” Kamel El-Wazir, deputy prime minister for industrial development and minister of industry and transport, said in the Facebook post. “We continue to create an attractive and transparent environment to support sustainable industrial growth across Egypt.” 
He highlighted the diversity of plot sizes to suit projects of all scales — small, medium, and large — ranging from 240 sq. meters to 500,000 sq. meters. 
The plots are offered at the actual cost of utilities to facilitate investor access and reduce financial burdens. Annual usufruct fees are set at 5 percent of the ownership price per sq. meter. 
Investors may apply for two opportunities, one as a primary choice and another as an alternative, providing flexibility and broader access. Allocation priority will go to applicants who previously submitted valid proposals but were unsuccessful and did not reclaim their deposits. 
El-Wazir noted that the offering is supported by unprecedented incentives from previous rounds, including a 50 percent discount on application study fees, removal of bid and financial guarantee charges, a reduced deposit of 10 percent of land value, and a simplified feasibility study form, all designed to encourage broader investor participation. 
Following application submission, the Industrial Development Authority will evaluate all entries and announce results within two weeks of the tender’s closing date.

Gold hit a more than four-month high on Monday, as increased bets for a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut this month lifted bullion’s allure, while silver rose above $40 per ounce for the first time in more than a decade.

Spot gold rose 1.2 percent to $3,486.86 per ounce by 8:41 a.m. Saudi time, hitting its highest point since April 23. US gold futures for December delivery gained 1.1 percent to $3,554.60.

“Dovish comments from San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly helped traders looked past a higher core PCE (Personal Consumption Expenditures) read on Friday, and kept the door open for a 25-basis-point rate cut this month,” City Index senior analyst Matt Simpson said.

A US appeals court has also deemed most of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs illegal, weighing further on the dollar and sending gold to a four-month high, Simpson said.

Data showed that the US PCE price index rose 0.2 percent month-on-month, and 2.6 percent year-on-year, both in line with expectations.

In a social media post on Friday, Daly reiterated her support for a rate cut, given the risks to the labor market.

Non-yielding gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment.

On the trade front, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday the Trump administration is continuing its talks with trading partners despite a US appeals court ruling that most of Trump’s tariffs are illegal.

Spot silver jumped 2.2 percent to $40.56 per ounce, the highest level since September 2011.

“The US bank holiday is contributing to thinner liquidity, which is also exacerbating some of the moves in gold and silver,” said KCM Trade’s chief market analyst, Tim Waterer.

“Silver is making a move higher in response to expectations of lower US rates, while a tight supply market is helping to maintain an upward bias.”

Platinum gained 1.5 percent to $1,384.68 and palladium climbed 0.8 percent to $1,118.06.