Granting incentives and guarantees to encourage investment, notably foreign investment, tops the Egyptian government's list of priorities for economic reform. Major foreign companies, however, remain reluctant to invest in the country's gold mining sector despite the opportunities available in Egypt's deserts.
In January, the government announced an international tender for exploring and exploiting gold in five locations in the Eastern Desert and Sinai — Umm el-Russ, Bokari, Umm Samra, Umm Ud and Hangaliya — under a production-sharing scheme. The tender process is currently ongoing.