China’s SAIC Motor to open car manufacturing factory in Egypt

CAIRO – 25 March 2018: Chinese car maker SAIC Motor is studying setting up a factory for car manufacturing in Egypt, a step that will boost and develop Egypt’s automotive industry, Trade Minister Tarek Kabil said Sunday.

This came during his meeting with a delegation from SAIC Motor, where they discussed the privileges and incentives in the new investment law to encourage automotive manufacturing in Egypt, instead of just assembly.

Kabil said that the expected Chinese factory targets to meet local market needs and benefit from Egypt as a hub for exporting to neighboring Arab and African countries, with which Egypt signed free trade agreements.

Kabil said that the state aims to boost automotive manufacturing and put Egypt on the global map of this industry, in addition to boosting the country’s car exports and expanding feeding industries.

The minister added that his ministry will support and facilitate the company’s entry into the Egyptian market, and that the company’s visit to Egypt comes as a result of the negotiations he held with the Chinese company’s CEO during his visit to China in September 2017.

Kabil confirmed the ministry’s keenness on encouraging and developing automotive manufacturing industry as well as its feeding industries through the introduction of incentive bundles in governorates and industrial zones across Egypt.

Michael Yang, Executive Director of SAIC Motor's international department, said that the company’s desire to invest in Egypt comes on the back of its conviction that the Egyptian market is one of the most important promising markets in the Middle East and Africa region.

Yang added that SAIC Motor is the largest auto company in China, capturing 23.3 percent of car sales in the Chinese market. The company sold around 6.6 million cars in 2017.

Yang further said that the negotiations are currently underway with one of the big Egyptian auto companies to distribute SAIC’s products in Egypt.