The Minister of Industry, Tarek Qabil said on Monday, that Egypt aims to become among the 30 strongest economies in the world by 2030, according to the Egyptian Amwal Al Ghad news website.

Qabil noted in a speech he delivered during the opening of a number of projects in Cairo, that the government targets eight percent growth in the industrial sector this year, and a twenty-one percent growth by 2020.

As Egypt is adopting a 2020 industrial development strategy, Qabil launched an industrial investment map, earlier in October.

The map will include details about available opportunities in the industrial sector.

This aims at reducing imports by increasing the contribution of the sector in the gross domestic product.

More than 4,000 opportunities were reportedly available in eight different sectors. The figures includes opportunities in engineering industries, chemical industries, food industries, textile sector, mining sector, pharmaceuticals sector, metal industries and leather industries.

On the other hand, predictions released by the United Nations, read that the Egyptian population will hit 200 million by 2100.

This means the population will increase by the double within less than 100 years.

The Egypt Independent wrote that in 2014, the Egyptian government was having difficulty in providing the most essential needs for the existing population, and added that this issue was used to justify any economic and social failures in Egypt for years.