Minister of Industry and Trade Munir Fakhry Abdel Nour said a big leap has been achieved in the rates of implementing development plans in various industrial zones and new cities during the fiscal year 2014/2015.

In a statement released by the Industry Ministry on Saturday, Abdel Nour said the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) issued 2,024 approvals for the establishment of new projects in the industrial zones and new cities at a total cost of EGP 33.4 billion compared with 1,295 projects at a cost of EGP 19.6 billion in the fiscal year 2013/2014.

The statement made it clear that food industries projects topped the list of approved projects securing 27 percent, while chemical industries stood at 26 percent, engineering industries ranked third with 25 percent followed by the textile industries which were put at 12 percent, with the remaining rates distributed in various sectors.