Egypt: an economic geography The people of Egypt · 33
increasing population pressure on Greater Cairo by decentralizing industry,
administration, tourism and higher education. So far, however, these endeav-
ours have had little effect. This is partly due to the concurrent economic
policy of privatization which embraced these sectors. Regional planning is
none of the private investors’ concern. They are more interested in securing
the largest possible market, which lies undoubtedly in Greater Cairo. As a
consequence many young people come to the capital from all over the country
in search of a livelihood. For highly qualified labour market entrants especially
the mega-city offers a wide array of employment opportunities, which can-
not be found in any of the other towns, including Alexandria. Besides, for
the medium-qualified employment-seekers both Cairo and Alexandria offer
not only greater opportunities but also higher wages than the other regional
capitals. And though the latter are large cities, most of them are still of a
rural character in terms of their supply of goods and services as well as of
cultural and recreational facilities.