Foreign direct investment is heading for the industrial zone in Sokhna, Sherine Nasr reports The American International Group's (AIG) African Infrastructure Fund, has decided to invest part of its capital to acquire a minority stake in the Sokhna Port Development Company (SPDC). "This decision underscores the confidence the company has in the Egyptian economy and in the role Egypt can play in leading the future in the region," said Frank Wisner, AIG's vice chairman of external affairs. He declined to specify how large the company's investment in the port is, but underlined that this is AIG's first major investment project in Egypt. "This is an example of a win-win situation. AIG is looking forward to developing more public-private partnerships in Egypt," said Wisner. AIG is one of the world's leading insurance and financial services organisations, delivering its services to 50 million customers in more than 130 countries and managing $678 billion in assets. AIG is also the lead investor and sponsor of the African Infrastructure Fund. Other investors in the fund include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the African Development Bank and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. "This is the largest private equity fund in Africa," commented Wisner, explaining that since 2000, the fund has committed $325 million to 15 different infrastructure-related businesses on the African continent in the sectors of telecommunications, water, power, transportation, oil and gas. "The last of these projects is the one being carried out at the Sokhna Port. With that we will have committed all our capital," said Wisner, who added a second fund would soon be established by various corporations to carry out further development projects in Africa. "This is the first time AIG has come to Egypt as a direct investor. This is just the beginning," commented SPDC Chairman Osama Al-Sherif, who added that the port has also attracted other major injections of foreign direct investment (FDI). A Saudi- European $105 million sugar refinery is now operational and a $500 million export- oriented methanol project is nearing completion. "The government works hard to attract FDI to the country. We would like to see the same successful example duplicated in other ports," he said. The Sokhna Port is built on the coast of the Gulf of Suez, 130km from Cairo. The new port will provide the necessary interface for import and export cargo flows serving the Suez Special Economic Zone, covering an area of 9,000 hectares 40km south of Suez on the Red Sea. The area is meant to be developed into a fully integrated economic and industrial zone. Operations in the port started in 2002. In order to meet the cargo handling demands in the future, a 20-year master plan has been developed, emphasising state-of-the-art technology to maximise efficiency and reduce turnover time.
