The Forbes Middle East Under 30 Summit, continued in El Gouna today, kicked off with a fireside chat between Mohamed Amer, CEO of El Gouna, and Ramia Farrage, Senior Presenter and Producer at Forbes Middle East. The inaugural event, which began with a high-energy opening ceremony on November 24, is running until November 26 in El Gouna. Amer revealed more about what the sprawling destination offers entrepreneurs.

Creating an ecosystem

El Gouna, a fully integrated sustainable town in Hurghada, Egypt, is creating a multi-purpose ecosystem with hospitals, education facilities, and legal and commercial services while combining lifestyle and business destinations. This made it the perfect hub to host the Under 30 Summit. “This comes in line with our core value and mission to empower and host the younger generation,” said Amer.

When asked about El Gouna’s target audience, the CEO added that “it is not only young entrepreneurs, but all SMEs, startups, and impact companies—ones that aren’t just profitable but socially and environmentally impactful—are also welcome.”

Amer also described G-Valley—a holistic business hub that will be focused on business startups—that will offer end-to-end solutions for all startups and SMEs in El Gouna. Spanning 500,000 square meters, it will comprise residential units and office spaces, retail, F&B venues, and hotels.

A city within a city

El Gouna, Orascom Development’s flagship town, covers 10 kilometers of shoreline on the Red Sea coast with a total land area of 36.92 million square meters, of which 15 million square meters have so far been developed, according to its website.

It boasts varied facilities, including a variety of properties, from private villas to apartments. It also houses 18 hotels, with 2,727 guest rooms across five, four, and three-star accommodations, a hospital, a nursing institute, two 18-hole championship golf courses, co-working facilities, and a landing strip This is in addition to three marinas, including the Abu Tig Marina.

-Ends-