$20B investments approved inside SC Zone

CAIRO – 28 April 2017: Thirty projects with total investments of $20.3 billion were approved inside the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SC Zone), according to the SC Zone’s 2016 annual report, released Wednesday.

The report said the 30 projects include those which were approved in the period before the area fell under the governance of the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

The SC Zone’s 2016 annual report also included the latest improvements in the area.

The SC Zone is a special economic zone established as per a presidential decree in 2015 and spanning an area of 460.6 square km. It includes East Port Said, West Qantara, East Ismailia and Ain Sokhna along with six affiliated ports located at West and East Port Said, Ain Sokhna, Adabia, Al-Arish and El Tor.

Prime Minister Sherif Ismail issued a decision in December 2015 forming the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone, appointed a board of directors to administrate and manage the SC zone and appointed Dr. Ahmed Darwish as chairman.

Darwish said many times previously that his authority will facilitate finalizing registrations, permissions and licenses for any investor without the need to go to any other governmental establishment, as the SC Zone is independent.

The report comes to announce the details concerning the new investments that the authority managed to attract during 2016, adding that several foreign delegations are expected to visit Egypt during the upcoming period.

The report also revealed that the authority settled 10 investment disputes, a number of them dating back to 2004. These included disputes with Chinese TEDA Company, Tahrir Petrochemical Complex, El Sokhna Refinery and Petrochemicals, Suez Company for Development, Orientals for Industrial Development, Suez Industrial Development Company and five other companies still in negotiations with the authority.

“We will be working on attracting new investments in small and medium enterprises, especially manufacturing spare parts and food industries, with the aim of reducing dependence on foreign currency” by minimizing imports, Darwish added.