Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mameish and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem signed an initial partnership agreement in the UAE on Thursday to establish a major development company for the development of Ain Sokhna.
The partnership is set to be 51 percent for the Suez Canal Authority and 49 percent for Dubai Ports Group. The contract stipulates that 90 percent of the workforce should be Egyptian.
In a statement, Mamish said that the partnership provides for the development of 95 kilometers in Ain Sokhna to include an industrial zone on an area of 75 kilometers and a residential area of 20 kilometers, which will accommodate about 650,000 people.
He added that the partnership aims to provide direct job opportunities estimated at 500,000 opportunities within the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
The implementation of the project will start in 2018 and the industrial zone will include logistics services, electronic industries, auto spare parts, a medical city, and petrochemical industries, according to Mamish.
“The agreement includes the implementation of an integrated economic zone in Ain Sokhna, and is a qualitative leap for the economy, he added.
The UAE’s political leaders directly instructed more investment in Egypt, said Sulayem, stressing Dubai Ports Group’s in the Egyptian government.
The size of global trade passing through the Suez Canal is currently experiencing a significant increase in revenues, quantities of goods and number of ships and cargoes, Mamish said, pointing out that revenues in August recorded US$470.6 million compared to $447.6 million in August 2016, with an increase of 5.1 percent.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
