Egypt offers some 50,000 acres for farms -minister

Egypt will offer within days to lease 50,000 feddans (53,800 acres) for agri-business projects in North Sinai, the irrigation minister said on Thursday.

The most populous Arab country said in April it would offer about 100,000 acres for agri-business in North Sinai on a 49-year lease but only to domestic investors.

Under the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel, land on the Sinai peninsula cannot be sold to foreigners.

The land will be offered as a concession right and will be used for agricultural reclamation and agricultural manufacturing projects, Mohamed Nasreddin Allam, minister of water resources and irrigation, told a news conference.

He added that the ministries of agriculture and trade would invite tenders for the land after the Muslim Eid holiday, which ends on Sunday.

The Industrial Development Authority (IDA) said last year Egypt would start up its agri-industrial zones project in June 2009. It said Egypt could raise as much as 66 billion Egyptian pounds ($11.6 billion) by 2020 through the scheme.

Agriculture Minister Amin Abaza had previously said Egypt would invite tenders in March for 50,000 acres of land in North Sinai for agri-business projects.