Egypt’s agriculture minister expects LE 220 billion ($40 billion) to be invested in the country’s agriculture over the next 20 years, the daily Al-Alam Al-Youm reported on Sunday.

The projected investment includes LE 80 billion in agricultural manufacturing, the paper quoted the minister, Amin Abaza, as saying.

"The coming period will witness more coordination between the ministry and the private sector," he added.

The ministry is studying possible changes to regulations to boost confidence in land reclamation and is seeking to provide incentives for the private sector.

"The private sector plays a key part in land reclamation. This year a total of 150,000 feddans (acres) were reclaimed," Abaza said, adding that the ministry’s role was to guide, carry out research and to regulate.

The ministry was not immediately available for comment.