A memorandum of understanding signed Wednesday would pilot UAE-based Parkin’s smart parking services at a project in New Cairo before expanding the system across all new cities and beyond, deepening UAE investment in Egypt’s service sectors, a source familiar with the agreement said.
Parkin signed the memorandum of understanding with Modon Misr for Asset & Facility Management, which is affiliated with the New Urban Communities Authority, and Mwasalat Misr, owned by the Mostaqbal Misr Authority and the private sector. The official statement did not disclose full details of the agreement.
The UAE’s presence in the Egyptian economy has expanded markedly in recent years through investment deals spanning food, energy, transport, and real estate, fueling debate over the concentration of Egyptian assets and concessions in the hands of the UAE partner.
The source, who asked not to be named, told Al Manassa that the new project is intended to introduce a comprehensive electronic system for managing garages and parking spaces. It would allow users to reserve spaces and electronically identify vacancies, while also offering monthly, quarterly, and other subscription plans.
The system would also use surveillance cameras to detect parking violations in the garages and electronically link them to traffic violation records, with electronic payment to be introduced at later stages of the project, the source said.
According to the source, the memorandum is a preliminary, nonbinding framework agreement. The government wants to assess the viability of the pilot and address any obstacles that emerge in New Cairo before signing final binding contracts.
The first phase would expand the system to other new cities if the pilot succeeds, while the second phase would apply to existing garages outside the new cities, the source said.
The smart parking concept is not new to Egypt. Cairo governorate introduced it in 2019, when it moved to use automated technology to manage garages through a build-operate-transfer partnership with the domestic private sector.
Roxy Garage in Heliopolis is Egypt’s most prominent example. It was the country’s first fully automated garage to operate without human intervention and the largest in the Middle East, with capacity for 1,700 cars.
The first phase of Roxy Garage was built with Egyptian financing and labor, while localizing foreign expertise, at a cost of 250 million Egyptian pounds (about $15 million in 2019).
Smart Garages Company carried out the project in partnership with Cairo governorate to ease traffic congestion in Heliopolis and create a launchpad for domestic investment in smart parking.
More recently, the approach has shifted toward relying on regional expertise and companies to manage and expand the system across new urban communities.
