PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak will start a three-day visit to France next week to take part in a French-African summit attended by 40 African leaders and French President Jacques Chirac. Egypt's ambassador to France, Ali Maher, said Mubarak will arrive in Paris next Wednesday. The summit is due to open on 27 November. The president is also scheduled to hold bilateral talks with Chirac and some African leaders taking part in the summit, Maher added. One of the main topics of discussion is expected to be African security and ways of bringing about peaceful settlements to the continent's conflicts. On Tuesday, President Mubarak made a four-hour tour of a new mega industrial zone north of the Gulf of Suez and visited the site of Ain Al-Sukhna port, expected to become Egypt's largest port when construction ends in May 2000. The industrial zone north of the Gulf of Suez was divided into four main areas extending over 288 million square metres. In these areas, 200 factories are planned, establishing new industrial communities, and becoming the largest industrial zone of its kind in the region. Prime Minister Kamal El-Ganzouri said construction in the new industrial zone started only 100 days ago with a preliminary budget of LE960 million, including LE330 million for the infrastructure and LE630 for the first stage of the project. Each of the four areas in the zone was assigned to a private sector company, and some companies have already started building factories, the prime minister added. Factories to open in this zone are expected to cover a wide range of activities such as iron and steel, fertilisers, cars, electronics, maintenance, petrochemicals, cement and home appliances, El-Ganzouri said. The first two factories manufacturing iron and steel and fertilisers are expected to start production in the year 2001, he added. After visiting the industrial zone, Mubarak visited the site of Ain Al-Sukhna port. Minister of Transport Suleiman Metwali said that construction work in the port is expected to end in 15 months at a total cost of LE600 million. The port is aimed mainly at serving the industrial zone north of Suez. Metwali said the first ship is expected to dock in Ain Al-Sukhna port in May 2000.
