Frankfurt, May 18 - Germany's biggest retailer, Metro AG, plans to invest up to 150 million euros ($232.2 million) to open as many as 10 Cash & Carry wholesale outlets in Egypt, it said on Sunday.
"With a population of nearly 80 million people and a rapidly growing economy, Egypt offers great potential for our self-service wholesale," Cash & Carry boss Frans Muller said in a statement.
The first Metro Cash & Carry store could open in Cairo in late 2009 once administrative details are worked out, it said.
"In the medium term, the company sees a market potential of up to 10 stores in Egypt with an investment volume of around 15 million each," it said.
"In the long term, Metro Cash & Carry estimates an overall market potential for more than 20 wholesale stores in Egypt," the statement added.
The company will operate in Egypt under the brand name Makro, which it also uses elsewhere, and expects to obtain 90 percent of its food and non-food stock from local producers and suppliers, the statement said.
Metro Cash & Carry already operates in Morocco, Turkey and Pakistan.
Muller told a news conference in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that the wholesale stores would supply hotels, restaurants and caterers but most of all the small to medium retailers who dominate the Egyptian groceries market.
Metro already buys Egyptian fruit and vegetables for export to the European market but its presence in Egypt will bring it closer to Egyptian farmers and fishermen, he said.
The announcement of Metro's investment in Egypt was timed for the opening of a big World Economic Forum meeting in the Egyptian report, attended by U.S. President George W. Bush. The company has about 600 outlets in 29 countries, employing over 100,000 people.