Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone)Yehia Zaki revealed that his authority has developed a joint strategy with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) so that the two entities can overcome current challenges and support international trade.
Addressing a special gathering within Expo 2020 Dubai, titled ‘Suez Canal Supporting Global Trade against Different Challenges’, Zaki added that the canal and the economic zone operate in harmony with eachother.
He said the Egyptian government launched a series of important projects in the past seven years.
“These projects are opening the door for the presence of multiple investment opportunities,” Zaki said.
He said the digging of a parallel channel to the canal and the construction of the SCZone were among these projects.
Zaki noted that Egypt wants to turn the Suez Canal region into an industrial, commercial and logistical hub that offers huge investment potentials to international companies.
“Turning the Suez Canal into an important economic hub, from just a maritime passageway, has always been Egypt’s dream,” Zaki said.
He said this economic hub would serve global trade and enhance the international investment map.
“It will attract diverse investments in all sectors,” Zaki said. “The SCZone is an important platform for the attraction of several types of industries.”
He said the zone would attract these industries by capitalising on the integrated areas it has and its logistical and industrial potentialities.
The canal area, he said, was provided with world class infrastructure and utilities in the past period, including electrical power networks, seawater desalination plants and sewage treatment plants.
Addressing the same event, Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea said that the government is keen on maximising the benefit from the economic value of the Suez Canal at the regional and international levels to strengthen Egypt’s position as a global trade and logistics hub.
She added the Suez Canal acts as a link between production centres in the Far East and distribution and consumption centres in the Middle East, Europe and the two Americas.
This gives Egypt an advantage to boost its commercial relations with different world countries and facilitate the entry of Egyptian exports to all foreign markets.
The trade minister explained the Suez Canal is one of the world’s most important commercial waterways, as it provides the fastest transit route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, which contributes to rapidly transporting goods and lowering the cost of transport.
The Suez Canal makes up of 12 per cent of global trade and acquires 22 per cent of container trade, she noted.
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