Chinese Logistics Park in SCZone will attract $30M in investment

CAIRO – 8 November: 2017: China will build a logistics zone in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) as TEDA Corporation and COSCO Shipping signed an agreement with Egypt Tuesday.

To be spread over 130,000 square meters in Ain Sokhna, the project is expected to create more than 300 job opportunities, and it will also serve the Belt and Road Initiative as a major international logistics service-provider.

The Egyptian-Chinese industrial zone in Ain Sokhna (TEDA) is planned to include a motorbike company, a textiles city and a logistics center, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Cairo Han Ping said in previous statements.

TEDA-Suez zone is a Chinese industrial zone in the SCZone, which is planned to span over 7.34 kilometer squares, with the first phase already completed.

In September, an array of cooperation agreements and contracts were signed between Egypt and China. The General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) signed a $60 million contract with fiberglass manufacturer China Jushi to expand its factory in the Red Sea resort of Ain Sokhna, which was originally established in 2014.

China has always been a key economic partner for Egypt over the past four years. In late 2013, Chinese Vice President, Li Yuanchao, announced giving Egypt a non-refundable grant of $24.7 million.

In December 2014, Sisi signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, including three cooperation agreements in the fields of economy and technical cooperation. Sisi and Jinping exchanged several visits since then.

Egypt ranked 52nd in list of China's largest trading partners in 2016, according to the latest statistics released by the Chinese General Administration of Customs.

Economic relations between Cairo and Beijing are deemed strong. The volume of trade exchange between Egypt and China recorded $5.178 billion from January to June 2017.

China's exports to Egypt decreased by 20.79 percent on a year-on-year basis to $4.518 billion, while Chinese imports from Egypt increased by 298.37 percent to reach $660 million.