Minister of Industry reveals plan to distribute investment to the states

Sudan Events – Nahid Oshi

Minister of Industry Mahasin Ali Yaqoub revealed the ministry’s plan to distribute industrial investment to states.
She said that the distribution of industrial investment to states will be in line with the production inputs in each state and according to the relative advantage of each state, provided that the investor has the right to choose the appropriate state while granting him preferential privileges from a plot of land for new projects and opening new markets to transport a large portion of the products, whether final or semi-finished, to be manufactured in other branches of the industrial facility, in addition to addressing the state governors urgently to facilitate the delivery of lands at encouraging prices without entering into disputes between residents over the ownership of these lands.
The minister affirmed in an interview to Sudan Events ” to be published later the coordination with the state governments and the General Administration of Customs to control the eastern and southern border crossings from which similar smuggled products are received, which negatively affect the economy and the competitiveness of local products.
She pointed out the review of the fees imposed on goods in the states and the possibility of reducing them to be reasonable as service fees so as not to affect the price of the final product.
Mahasin disclosed the relative advantages of the states, the proposed investment projects and the challenges, and said that the River Nile state is distinguished by its geographical location in terms of easy access to Port Sudan and the crossings.
She revealed the proposed investment projects such as leather tanning, leather industries, mining industries and meat processing, and the Minister of Industry pointed out the distinction of the Northern state in its strategic location in terms of its proximity to both Egypt and Libya with the presence of an investment map showing all industrial fields in the state with the presence of a law to regulate and develop industry, but she pointed to the weakness of bank financing for the sector and the lack of use of modern technologies in manufacturing processes, particularly for local products.
The Minister considered the Blue Nile State to be one of the first states in the field of agricultural investment as it has large areas for agriculture and livestock in addition to contributing to the establishment of important food industries in addition to mineral wealth, and she said that the presence of the Roseires Dam helps in providing the energy needed to establish industrial cities.
She affirmed that Gedarif state is characterised by the presence of a legal fence that protects the investor and provides comparative advantages, while the Red Sea state is characterised by the diversity of economic resources, and the White Nile state has a large storage capacity and grain silos with a capacity of 100,000 tons, in addition to the presence of the railway headquarters in the city of Kosti.