Last week, the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) launched a project entitled “Supporting the Development of the Suez Canal Economic Zone [SCZone]” in partnership with Egypt's General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone. “Egypt's General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone was born a year ago. We have done a lot since then in terms of contracts and getting ourselves recognised around the world, but we really need to do more,” Ahmed Darwish, chairman of the authority, said at the opening session of the project. “The development of the Suez Canal Economic Zone is one of the areas of shared interest that will be included in the EU-Egypt Partnership Priorities, a joint document that will set out the strategic cooperation objectives for EU-Egypt relations for the next few years,” Reinhold Brender, chargé d'affaires of the EU delegation to Egypt, said at the opening session. The Suez Canal Economic Zone had great potential to become a major logistical hub and offered great potential for investors, Brender said, adding that “it offers the opportunity of being a testing ground for regulatory reforms that could be replicated across the whole of Egypt.” The SCZone project will provide technical support to the authority, he added, saying that “we have high hopes that this project will contribute to our shared ambition of making the Suez Canal Economic Zone a globally competitive and world-class investment location.” The Suez Canal Economic Zone was established in August 2015 as a “special economic zone” subject to Law 2002/83 on Economic Zones of a Special Nature. Shortly afterwards, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi agreed OECD support for the Suez Canal Area Development Project with the organisation's Secretary-General Angel Gurría based on international standards and best practices, Amani Essawi, international relations advisor at the authority, told Al-Ahram Weekly. The project is set to deliver a needs assessment and action plan for the authority by July 2017, and it will include further capacity building, implementation support and follow-up on each work area. It aims to ensure that the development of the Suez Canal Economic Zone can attract investment and economic activities in the best conditions of security and transparency, Essawi said. In order to guarantee the success of the project, an institutional and regulatory framework that enhances the Suez Canal Corridor as an international logistics hub will be created alongside the establishment of sound models of infrastructure at both governance and development levels. To promote effective structural change and contribute to the welfare of the population, this work would require the creation of strong partnerships between the public and private sector, as well as proper guidance and institutional capacity from national and international stakeholders, she added. The preparatory phase for the project will focus on helping the authority assess existing policy frameworks and identify priority actions needed to build a dynamic and sustainable economic zone in line with the highest international standards. The approach will draw on OECD best practices and lessons learned from international experiences, such as the maritime and logistics clusters of the Panama Canal, the Singapore Straits and the Gibraltar Straits. According to Essawi, the project responds to needs expressed by the Egyptian government to build strong policy frameworks and ensure the prioritisation of policy actions for the successful development of the zone. Building on the masterplan adopted by the authority, Essawi said, the project sought to assist the authority in building its institutional capacity in the design and implementation of key regulations in strategic areas such as public procurement and investment to promote an attractive business environment. Moreover, it will assist the authority in developing a sustainable model of infrastructure development as well as improving the connectivity and integration of the Suez Canal Zone infrastructures and activities into the domestic and global economy, she concluded. The project's activities are being carried out over a six-month period starting in January 2017 and involve nine OECD teams.
