Egypt discloses plan to build new capital city to ease Cairo congestion

The Egyptian government has announced its plan to build a new capital city, east of the present capital, Cairo.

The Housing Minister, Mostafa Madbouly said at an investment conference, that the project would take five to seven years to complete the project and would cost 45 billion dollars, BBC reported.

Madbouly said that Cairo's population, estimated around 18 million was expected to double in the next 40 years. Therefore, the new Capital will be built with the aim to ease congestion and overpopulation.

The Egyptian parliament and all the government as well as foreign departments would move to the new metropolis, Madbouly added.

Developers said that the new city would create more than a million jobs and include almost 2,000 educational institutions and more than 600 health care facilities.

The new capital, whose name has not been revealed would be built in over 700 sq km by the Capital City Partners, a private real estate investment fund led by Emirati Mohamed Alabbar, who built the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

The Dubai businessman said that this is a wonderful opportunity, to design the city from scratch, which is going to be a natural extension for the city of Cairo. He added that the builders would deploy the most advanced design techniques and the new city would breed "confidence" and "pride" in Egyptians.

The proposed city's site has been disclosed along the corridor between Cairo and the Red Sea, which would provide linkages to significant shipping routes.