Egypt to showcase Suez Canal Area Development projects at February conference

Egypt will hold a conference to present new projects in the Suez Canal Area Development Project next February, Head of the Suez Canal Authority Moheb Mamish told state-run news agency MENA on Wednesday.

Egypt is planning to transform an area of 500 square kilometers around the canal cities of Suez, Port Said, and Ismailia and spanning six ports, into a global business and logistics hub over the next 15 years, according to the project’s official website.

Egypt’s military has already begun infrastructure works in some areas covered by the project, including the development of East Port Said’s port.

Thirty-six investors, mostly from Europe and East Asia, have expressed an interest in investing in the projects, which span sectors such as automotive assembly, textiles, and electronics, said Mamish on the sidelines of a conference organized by the German-Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce to discuss the projects.

The new area will be governed as a special economic zone by the General Authority for the Economic Zone of Suez Canal, which will act as a one-stop-shop for the zone, as stipulated by amended legislation ratified earlier this year by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi in the absence of a parliament.