DP World, a UAE-based company operating marine and inland terminals worldwide, will develop the Ain Sokhna Port Zone as part of a large investment project in Egypt in early 2018, an official at the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) has said. The Industrial Zone will be the starting point of the project, he added. Mohab Mamish, head of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone, and Sultan Ahmed bin Selim, chairman of DP World, signed an initial contract last week. A final draft will be signed when procedures to set up a company for the development of the Ain Sokhna Port Zone are finalised. The contract states that 95 square km will be developed in Ain Sokhna. 75 square km will be dedicated to establishing an industrial zone, and the remaining area will be allocated to residential units housing up to 650,000 people. The Ain Sokhna Port covering 22 square km is currently administered by DP World. Some 500,000 job opportunities will be created in the new zone once the project starts, according to an Economic Development Authority report. “DP World sees the development of the Suez Canal Zone as an extension to its projects in Dubai's Mount Ali area,” a source close to the deal told Al-Ahram Weekly. In its first phase the new industrial zone will provide services for medium-, small- and micro-enterprises, logistics, building materials, food industries, textiles, electronics, communications, car parts, petrochemicals and medicines. The deal will allow for the development of a free industrial zone at the Ain Sokhna Port, and with the many development projects that will be set up in the area the overall economy will receive a push and the creation of many job opportunities, a joint statement said. The partnership deal is part of a development plan drafted by the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone to establish four economic zones and six ports in the Suez Canal area. “Establishing industrial areas linked to marine ports leads to increasing imports. This in turn will double foreign-currency inflows over the next two years,” Mustafa Al-Deeb, advisor to the transport minister for maritime affairs, told the Weekly. DP World Sokhna is part of the DP World International Network that includes ports in 31 countries. The SCA started promoting the area for development. Mamish has met with a delegation of officials from the Port of Singapore last week, who intend to pump new investments in East Port Said port, according to a statement from the authority. The writer is a freelance journalist.
