Egypt announces new Chinese investments in textile

CAIRO - New Chinese investments in the field of textiles are coming soon to Egypt's Suez Canal economic region, an Egyptian official said on Saturday.

Ahmed Darwish, head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), said during a business conference held in Cairo that a number of investment contracts would be signed in the SCZone with Chinese international firms.

At the two-day first round of the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Conference, held under the slogan of "Egypt ... Your Gateway to BRICA," the Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Alliance, Darwish said that the SCZone has become largely attractive to investors, particularly those of China.

He added that China's TEDA Corporation, one of the oldest industrial developers in the zone, has been developing an area of over 7 square km in Ain Sokhna district of the Suez Canal Corridor east of Cairo.

The SCZone chief hailed TEDA's work in the region that attracted some 68 enterprises, including Jushi, a fiberglass giant from China.

Proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative is meant to revive the ancient trade way known as the Silk Road, including land and sea trade routes between China and countries in Asia, Africa and Europe.

The first round of the annual Belt and Road Industrial and Commercial Conference is organized by Egyptian Businessmen's Association and China Federation of Industrial Economics, Egypt and China being the founding members of BRICA.

Held under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry, some 150 Egyptian businessmen and 160 others from the BRICA states took part in the conference, besides large financial institutions including China Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, African Development Bank and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.