A number of French companies have recently acquired the outline of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) plan in preparation for a number of feasibility studies for projects in the fields of energy, and the establishment of logistics and information technology centres, and infrastructure.
Nasser Fouad, spokesperson for the authority, told Daily News Egypt that these French companies do not have any standing investments in the Egyptian market.
French president François Hollande visited Cairo on Sunday, accompanied by a delegation of French businesspeople to discuss opportunities for trade and investment partnerships.
Fouad added that the chairman of the SCZone Ahmed Darwish met with 24 French companies during his recent visit to Paris, in March, from which he said he “sensed wide enthusiasm” for investing in the SCZone.
The Board of the SCZone seeks to promote the Suez Canal development project globally. Darwish is currently visiting Washington for the same purpose. Most investments in the zone are owned by foreign companies.
Fouad added that the SCZone has lately signed letters of intent with each party in the Ask-Capital alliance, which includes investors from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Lebanon, and the Singaporean company Hyflux for the establishment of a water desalination station in Suez.
