Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli Saturday paid an inspection tour to the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) to follow up on the recent developments in the implementing national projects there.
He was accompanied by Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek el-Mulla, Minister of Transport Kamel el-Wazir and Governor of Port Said Adel el-Ghadban along with Governor of Suez Abdel Maguid Saqr.
Governor of Ismailia Sherif Fahmy and head of the SCZone Yahia Zaki were also present.
The prime minister emphasised that the SCZone is one of the most important national projects in Egypt.
Madbouli said President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is continuously following up the projects being implemented in the zone, adding that the President issued directives to attract further investments to the zone to help localise technology and provide jobs.
During the tour, the prime minister visited the Red Sea Complex for Petrochemicals and laid the foundation stone of the first industrial complex for petrochemicals in the zone.
The complex’s annual production hits one million tonnes.
Minister of Oil Tarek el-Mulla said the project is set up over an area of 3.56 million square metres at a total cost of 7.5 billion dollars.
He added that it will provide around 15,000 jobs for young people.
El-Mulla pointed out that this project is the first of its kind in the Middle East and Africa region (MENA) to produce a variety of petrochemical products.
El-Mulla said his ministry was working hard to turn Egypt into a regional hub for manufacturing petroleum and petrochemical products, given its expertise and capabilities as well as Egypt’s unique location in the region.
The project, when completed, will meet the local needs of petrochemical products; reduce imports.
The surplus production will be exported with the aim of achieving additional foreign reserves that would effectively contribute to improving Egypt’s trade balance and enhancing its economy regionally and globally.
Egyptian companies will implement this project in partnership with major international companies.
PM Madbouli also inspected development works of Ain Sokhna port as directed by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
The upgrade efforts aim to create the largest harbour on the Red Sea in a move that would serve trade between the East and the West, said the prime minister.
He inspected workflow at Basin 1, which was developed in collaboration with DP World and has already gone operational with a capacity of 945,000 TEUs.
The prime minister also toured the site of Basin 2 whose development plan includes a 1.3-kilometre-long quay with 400 metres in use in Phase 1, and a 350,000 square metre container yard.
Built at a cost of $520 million, Basin 2 nearly doubles the capacity at the port to 1.75 million TEUs per year.
The expansion cements DP World Sokhna’s position as a major gateway for Egypt’s trade, and the only port in the country capable of handling the largest container ships in the world.
Upgrade work at the port includes the construction of Basin 3, a liquid bulk station spanning 400 square metres, which is a major gateway for Egypt’s energy imports.
The transport minister said his ministry started to carry out phase one of the development project of the port in March 2021 at a total cost of LE20 billion.
Madbouli also inspected a station of industrial sewage recycling at the zone.
He listened to an explanation from the engineer supervising the station about its components and operation. The total cost of the station is LE250 million.
The total capacity of the station is 35,000 cubic metres per day.
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