Minister of Military Production Mohamed Al-Assar inaugurated a vehicle production line at Helwan Machinery and Equipment Company (999 war factory) in partnership with the Republic of Belarus.
The Belarusian-Egyptian MAZ production plant has been opened in Cairo, Daily News Egypt learned from the website of the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ).
The inauguration ceremony was attended by a number of high-ranking officials among whom were Belarusian Ambassador to Egypt Sergei Rachkov, the Egyptian ministers of trade and industry and Transport, the chairperson of the Federation of Industries, the chairperson of the Industrial Development Authority (IDA), the chairperson of the board of directors of the Arab Contractors Company, and the deputy general manager and the commercial director of the Belarusian MAZ company.
During his remarks, Al-Assar said that the truck production line (MAZ) is the execution of the protocol signed in June 2017 between the National Organisation for Military Production, the Belarusian MAZ company, and the International Industries and Projects Company, an agent of MAZ company in Egypt, with Helwan Machinery and Equipment Company (999 war factory). He added that MAZ’s advanced technological expertise in the field of manufacturing equipment and heavy transport vehicles is a great boon to Egypt’s car industry.
“Egypt seeks to increase the localisation of car production to 40%,” asserted Al-Assar.
Following the inauguration, a protocol of cooperation was signed between Helwan Machinery and Equipment Company and Al-Abbas Establishment for Import, Export, and Commercial Agencies in order to market MAZ cars for war production and maintenance centres.
Furthermore, a number of sales contracts for MAZ vehicles were signed with Helwan Machinery and Equipment Company and a number of Egyptian companies, including Ready Mix for Building Materials, Valo Intranet, and Arab Contractors for Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.
The attendees also explored the car production line at the factory, while touring the civil production capacities inside to see what the company is manufacturing for the civil sector.
The Ministry of Military Production shared its future plan of cooperation with other Belarusian companies in many common-interest fields, including the production of tractors, agricultural machinery and equipment, sewage plants, dryers, and grain storage equipment and silos, Al-Assar revealed.
He added that his ministry seeks to cooperate with several Belarusian companies to bring in advanced technologies as well as to work on troubleshooting various mechanical problems.
“We are looking forward to taking advantage of the industrial base of our military production plants in order to realise our short-term vision of possessing high-tech products at competitive prices to cover the needs of the Egyptian market.”
Belarusian Ambassador to Egypt Sergei Rachkov said that the company is seeking to deepen cooperation with Egypt to equip all war production facilities with the latest advanced technology in the fields of joint heavy industrialisation. Rachkov concluded that his country seeks to cooperate with the Egyptian side in several other fields, reflecting the strong relations between the two countries.
