Chinese Company to invest in Egypt by $100M

CAIRO – 9 August 2018: China’s Sinoma International Engineering Company intends to establish an iron and steel plant with a production capacity of 2 million tons annually, and investments estimated at $100 million, Vice Chairman of the company Liu Zhijiang said.

This came during a meeting between Minister of Investment Sahar Nasr and a delegation from the Hebei Provincial Government of China and eight Chinese major companies, as well as the Chinese company CFLD, which is specialized in the field of construction of new cities, during their visit to Egypt.

During the meeting, Chinese companies expressed their desire to inject new investments into the Egyptian market during the coming period.

They also praised the steps taken by Egypt to improve the business environment during the last period.

Nasr welcomed the Chinese investments in light of the appropriate economic climate and the economic and legislative reforms that have been done.

The Egyptian government supports the private sector to participate in Egypt’s mega-national projects, headed by the development project in Suez Canal, the New Administrative Capital and New Alamein, the minister stated.

She added that the Egyptian government is actively encouraging private sector investments as an engine for economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction.

"Egypt has therefore carried out major economic and investment reforms," she noted.

The minister reviewed the legislative and regulatory aspects of the issuance of several laws and regulations, namely the new investment law and its executive regulations, the law of restructuring and reconciliation, bankruptcy and postponement of financing and privatization, and the amendments of the law of companies and the capital market and their executive regulations.

She also noted that the new investment law includes a number of clear incentives and full guarantees for investors.

The new investment law provides investors with several incentives and treats men, women, Egyptian and foreign investors equally.

The law also stipulates that foreign employees should not exceed 20 percent of the total number of workers in the projects established by non-Egyptian investors.

Moreover, the bankruptcy law regulates the financial and administrative restructuring for failed projects and companies, eliminating prison sentences in bankruptcy cases and limits punishments to a monetary fine.

It also aims to minimize the need for companies or individuals to resort to the courts and to simplify post-bankruptcy procedures.