Metro Group has started work on the first of potentially 23 cash & carry stores in Egypt. The store, in Cairo, is scheduled to open early next year. Metro originally intended to enter the market in late 2009 but then postponed it to 2010. The plan involves having a network of 12 cash & carries by 2012. The government has been seeking to improve internal trade throughout Egypt and hopes that the arrival of Metro Group will boost internal trade and cut prices.