The government’s ownership of a large number of real estate properties is not doing the country any good, argues Patrick Werr in his weekly column in The National. He takes the case of the Continental Hotel, for which a demolition order was issued recently. Werr says that “this demolition order in my mind demolishes one of the main arguments this and other state real estate holders have used to justify their presence in the property market, that by owning historic buildings they are somehow protecting the country’s national heritage.” He suggests that the sale “property holdings could help to tide it over. But more importantly, the sale of these assets would attract dynamic private sector investors, helping to revitalise Egypt’s main cities.”

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