Carbon Holdings, an Egyptian Petrochemicals Company, signed a $1.7bn cooperation agreement with Italian group MaireTecnimont and the Dutch Archirodon Group, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry announced Monday. Maire Tecnimont will construct the project's utilities and manage its offsite facilities at the Tahrir Petrochemicals' Company complex in Ain El-Sokhna, the statement added. "The agreement, awarded on a direct negotiation basis, envisages Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning [EPCC] activities executed by a consortium composed by Maire Tecnimont Group and Archirodon Group for an expected value between $1.7bn and$1.95bn, out of which 50% pertaining to the Maire Tecnimont Group," the Italian company said in an official statement, published on 26 March. "The project's scope of work consists in the EPCC activities for all the complex utilities and offsite facilities encompassing Utilities Island, Sea Water Desalination System, Waste Water Treatment, Sea Works, Tank Farm, Jetty Works, Power Plant, Pipelines and Auxiliary Packages and Systems," Maire Tecnimont added. Egyptian ministry spokesman Yasser Gaber confirmed that the agreement was signed on Sunday. According to the ministerial statement, Minister of Foreign Trade, Industry and Investment Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour and Italian Minister for Economic development Carlo Calenda were present during the signing ceremony. Carbon Holdings Chairman and CEO Basil El-Baz said that the petrochemicals complex is the first of its kind in Egypt, adding that it is expected to create 20,000 job opportunities during the construction work period, in addition to 3,000 jobs for engineers and technicians and 50,000 indirect job opportunities. El-Baz said that the work is expected to proceed in the first quarter of 2015 (1Q 2015) and will be completed over a period of 46 months, adding that the post-completion trial period will last for about 6 months. The foreign trade minister stated that the project's capital is $5.3bn, adding that it "represents a significant added value to the Egyptian economy". According to the minister, the complex is expected to produce 1.35m tons of polyethylene, 960,000 tons of propylene, 400,000 tons of benzene and 215,000 tons of betadine. According to the ministerial statement, Abdel Nour said: "It [the petrochemicals complex project] is expected to increase Egyptian exports by 25%." Abdel Nour said the rate of new established companies in Egypt has reached its highest level in nine years. Around 885 companies were established with a total value of $549bn in capital, he noted. In March, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Industry announced that a Russian industrial zone focusing on producing agriculture machinery and equipment will be established in Egypt. The ministry added that the Russian government has approved the Egyptian government's proposal to begin negotiations regarding the establishment of a free trade zone between Egypt and the countries of the Customs Union, which include Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.
