Egypt celebrates the Labour Day on Thursday with the inauguration of a state-of-the-art railway manufacturing plant in Port Said, reflecting the government’s efforts toward localisation of important sectors and decreasing dependency on imports.
The event was held in the newly-established factory of the National Egyptian Railway Industries Company (NERIC) at the East Port Said Industrial Complex, in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
Selection of venue is of great significance, as Egypt is investing more and more in its rail network, metro and other public transport projects, and in the meantime aims to develop a domestic industry that can supply rolling stock for the system and reducing reliance on imported equipment.
NERIC plays a key role in implementing this strategy.
As a joint venture company between the government and private investors, the firm has started building an integrated manufacturing facility on a site spanning 300,000 square metres. The project will be carried out over phases, and the first stage involves producing railway and metro cars.
Transport Minister Kamel el-Wazir said this week that manufacturing railway cars is in line with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s instructions to localise industries in key sectors, that require heavy imports and have good prospects for exports.
The factory will play an important role in supporting the transportation modernisation programme in Egypt.
NERIC is collaborating with Hyundai Rotem Company of South Korea to produce 40 metro cars with 320 air-conditioned units in Cairo’s Metro Lines 2 and 3. Additionally, it is tasked with producing 21 metro cars for the Alexandria Metro Project.
A joint venture between NERIC and the Egyptian National Railways Authority was signed earlier this week, for the local production and delivery of 500 air-conditioned passenger railcars, as part of the hard work to modernise Egypt’s outdated train cars.
According to officials, the project is expected to boost localisation, thus ensuring that the technology transfer occurs along with the development of the Egyptian technical capacity and the establishment of the local rail car parts supplier chain.
In addition, the production of rail cars in Egypt could save foreign currency used for importing expensive equipment. Furthermore, this is one of the steps aiming to achieve Egypt’s vision of creating a regional producer and exporter of railway rolling stock serving Africa and the Middle East.
NERIC is also looking beyond production towards maintenance and refurbishment. With another deal concluded during this week, it means the creation of a dedicated firm in charge of Kom Abu Radi Railway workshops, a center for maintenance of the fleet to enhance readiness and longevity.
Egypt, which has made the development of its infrastructure a policy priority, could see a very strong signal with NERIC’s establishment: the localisation of industries has become more than an objective; it is now a reality.
