After years of preparations for the move, the company will stop producing mechanic metres in June.

CEO Dieter Brunner said at ceremony that the transition to production of smart meters marked the beginning of a new future for the company.

No lay-offs of the 800 employees are expected as a result of the switch.

Since 2007, when Egyptian company El Sewedy entered the company, Iskraemeco has undergone financial and organisational restructuring and the company has expanded its range of products to software.

Its R&D department, boasting 120 experts, is one of the biggest in the industry in Europe. The company allocates 6-8% of its revenue to research annually.

"In the last seven years, over EUR 14m have been invested in Iskraemeco and we will continue investing. This is our strategy," CFO Bahaa Abdullah said.

In the next five years, EUR 8m are to be invested in the modernisation of production, development of new meters and in increasing market shares and entering new markets.

Iskraemeco is a leading company in the branch in Germany and the Netherlands.

The new production line launched today was set up to mainly implement deals with the Netherlands and Austria. So far EUR 300,000-400,000 have been invested in the project.

Another production line, worth EUR 1m, is to be set up in September. The company currently has eight production lines, each worth EUR 700,000 to EUR 1m.

In the 70 years of its existence, Iskraemeco has produced over 75 millions of meters. It has production facilities in Egypt, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Columbia.

Iskraemeco last year increased its revenue to EUR 70m from EUR 65.4m in 2014, while its net profit amounted to EUR 2.6m.