The General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone in Egypt signed a contract granting the right of usufruct for a 750,000 square meter plot of land to the Chinese company “Xin Feng” (WU’AN XIN FENG) to establish a factory for producing hot-rolled iron coils in the Suez Industrial Zone, with an investment cost of $297 million.
In a statement released today, the authority stated that the project will provide 1,200 job opportunities, target 70% of its production for export, and include subsequent stages for producing automotive engine blocks.
Egypt aims to attract $3.9 billion in foreign investments to the Suez Canal Economic Zone during the current fiscal year 2023-2024, according to Ahmed Saad, the executive director of the General Authority for the Zone, in an interview with “Al-Sharq” last November.
The project has received approval from the Supreme Energy Council regarding the required gas and electricity for the project, with the completion of the remaining approvals before land delivery.
The new project was part of the discussions of the delegation of the Suez Canal Economic Zone during its promotional tour in China in May 2023, during which it was agreed that the project would be supplied with the latest equipment upon approval.
The Egyptian industrial zone has attracted investments worth $1.3 billion in the first four months of the current fiscal year.
Chinese investments in “TEDA-Egypt” in the Suez Industrial Zone have reached $2 billion so far through the presence of 150 companies in various industrial and logistics sectors, according to the Egyptian authority’s president, Walid Jamal al-Din.
Contracts for three industrial projects in the Suez Industrial Zone have been signed since the beginning of the current fiscal year 2023/2024, for companies such as “De Ceta” for clothing accessories, “Henshing” for dyeing and textile processing, and “Henuai” for luggage manufacturing.
Egypt aims to curb its import bill by localizing specialized industries, promoting 152 investment opportunities in the industrial sector to address an import gap of $30 billion annually, as announced by the General Authority for Industrial Development last August.
According to the statement, the authority discussed with the Chinese delegation led by Ni You Fang, Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Hebei Province, opportunities for cooperation with companies in the province in traditional or new energy automobile manufacturing, data centers, and manufacturing of green products based on clean energy in the manufacturing process.
The authority’s cooperation with Chinese companies includes marine and logistics fields through the Ain Sokhna Port, represented by Hutchison International and the global shipping lines alliance COSCO and CMA, to develop one of the container terminals at the Ain Sokhna Port.
The Suez Canal Economic Zone is an independent entity aimed at developing the area surrounding the Suez Canal navigation passage, with industrial zones and a group of ports, offering preferential incentives to investors through a special law regulating its operation.
