Hossam Heiba, CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), inspected the free zones in Suez to follow up on the expansion of companies operating there and facilitate their work.
Suez has three public free zones in Port Tawfiq, Adabeya, and Ataqa, which benefit from the governorate’s strategic location as a southern gateway to the Suez Canal and its rich natural and human resources.
He met with Abdel Mageed Saqr, Governor of Suez, and discussed the establishment of a new investment zone for small industries in Suez.
He also inaugurated the new production line for Galaxy Chemicals Company in the Ataqa Free Zone, which cost $5.5m and will boost Egypt’s exports of petrochemicals and foreign currency revenue.
He visited factories of the BIM Consolidated Group for building materials production and talked with Felix Morale, the company’s CEO, about the group’s expansion plans. These include developing environmentally friendly building materials and increasing the group’s exports from 30% to 50% of production in the coming years.
Morale praised the Egyptian economy’s attractiveness for investment, which led to the company’s growth since its inception in Egypt in 2016. The company’s investments and assets in Egypt are now worth about EGP 2bn, making it the largest gypsum board producer in Egypt.
At the end of the tour, GAFI organized a meeting with Heiba and investors from the three free zones in Suez. They discussed how to improve work in the free zones, the challenges facing investors, and the latest investment incentives offered by GAFI. These include simplifying online company establishment, reducing the documents needed for company establishment and operation, and welcoming business community proposals to improve legislation and procedures related to the investment environment.
