BRUSSELS/CAIRO – Chairman of the General Authority of Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) Waleid Gamal El-Dein said that SCZONE has become a model for international economic cooperation, pointing to the confidence of many international investments that have chosen it as a center for their expansions into various markets, due to its distinctive strategic location and competitively-skilled workforce.
This came during a presentation by Gamal El-Dein on the most important investment opportunities available in the region, on the sidelines of the visit by the Egyptian economic delegation to Brussels to promote investment in Egypt, and to review the ongoing preparations for the investment conference scheduled to be held in Egypt this year, according to a statement from the Economic Zone out.
Gamal El-Dein presented investment incentives in the economic zone to representatives of several European companies in the presence of the Prime Minister of the Flemish Region of Belgium and a number of representatives of commercial agencies in the three Belgian regions (Wallonia, Brussels, and Flanders), as well as major Belgian companies operating in various fields, including the new and renewable energy sector, green hydrogen, logistics, infrastructure, Belgian banks, the Port of Antwerp, and others.
He emphasized that the SCZONE represents the vision of the Egyptian state in achieving sustainable development and maximizing the utilization of available resources.
He continued: “The economic zone is working on developing its capabilities, which consist of four industrial zones capable of accommodating various industrial and service sectors, and six maritime ports on the Mediterranean and Red Seas, through the development of subsidiary ports, equipping industrial zones with infrastructure, and connecting them with modern road networks, in addition to the philosophy of integration that facilitated the movement of raw materials and final products to and from industrial zones.”
He also emphasized that this readiness enabled the SCZONE to lead regionally and globally in the green fuel file, pointing to the availability of various energy sources and the presence of a Chinese industrial zone, as well as numerous Indian, Turkish, and European investments, in addition to cooperation with major global alliances in the fields of maritime transport, logistics, and green fuel.
He said: “In the past 18 months, the economic zone has managed to attract 90 projects in the industrial sector and 7 projects in its affiliated ports, with a total of 97 projects with investments of $4.6 billion.”
The visit of the Egyptian delegation to Brussels is part of the promotional plans of the SCZONE for fiscal year 2023 – 2024, where during the first half of the current fiscal year, 48 projects received final approval with total investments of dlrs 991 million, covering various sectors including ready-made garments, textile industries, electrical appliances, chemical industries, logistics areas, and others.
On the other hand, 42 projects received preliminary approval with ongoing completion procedures with investments of dlrs 908 million, and these investments included several countries including China, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Germany, and Japan.
