The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) has welcomed delegations from Tianjin, China, and high-level Brazilian government officials.
Ibrahim Abdel Khalek, SCZONE’s Deputy Chairperson for Investment and Promotion Affairs, highlighted the zone’s commitment to fostering investor relations, as demonstrated by securing industrial investments totaling approximately $1.7bn this year.
During a meeting with Tianjin’s Governor’s Office delegation at the SCZONE headquarters, Abdel Khalek, alongside Li Wenhai, Deputy Mayor of Tianjin, and Liu Aymin, Chairman of TEDA Investment, discussed the 15-year collaboration with TEDA, Tianjin’s investment entity.
Abdel Khalek emphasized the strong Egypt-China partnership and the significance of Chinese investments in SCZONE’s projects. He also noted recent promotional tours, including an Egyptian delegation visit led by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the “Belt and Road” initiative, which resulted in new investment agreements.
The Tianjin delegation acknowledged SCZONE’s attractive investment incentives, which have been instrumental in drawing Chinese companies, particularly following Egypt’s integration into the BRICS bloc.
Deputy Mayor Li Wenhai expressed pride in the ongoing cooperation with SCZONE and the support for Chinese projects in the region. He mentioned meetings with approximately 10 companies from diverse sectors within SCZONE, all of which praised the zone’s role in facilitating their investments.
TEDA Egypt recently celebrated 15 years of partnership with SCZONE, marking the establishment of over 140 companies across various industries, with investments of $1.6bn, creating more than 5,000 direct and 50,000 indirect job opportunities.
In a related event, Walid Youssef, SCZONE’s Deputy Chairperson for the Southern Zone Affairs, met with a Brazilian delegation led by Alex Giacomelli, Head of the Trade Promotion, Investment, and Agriculture Sector at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry. The delegation expressed interest in investing in SCZONE, with a focus on green energy and logistics services, and proposed establishing a logistical storage area for agricultural commodities with Brazilian investment.
During the meeting, the Deputy Chairperson of the Economic Zone gave a detailed presentation about the zone, during which he explained the components that the economic zone possesses, namely the strategic location that makes it close to foreign markets and the numerous international trade agreements it’s part of, which facilitate the access of goods and products to various markets.
He shed light on several services that the economic zone provides to investors, especially one-stop services to facilitate procedures and obtain licenses in all sectors.
He explained the importance of the presence of Brazilian companies in the region, in light of Egypt’s membership in BRICS, of which Brazil is one of its prominent members.
For their part, the members of the delegation expressed their happiness at visiting the economic zone and getting closely acquainted with its components and projects.
Following the meeting, the Brazilian delegation took a tour inside the industrial developer Orascom in the Sokhna Industrial Zone, affiliated with the Economic Zone, to learn about several industrial projects established there. The delegation visited the Saraya Middle East Factory, the ATECO Pharma Factory for Pharmaceutical Supplies, and the Hyma Plastics – Hema Foam Company.
