Russian businessmen strongly welcome the investment in the global logistics project in Damietta, according Mikhail Orlov, President of the Russian-Egyptian Business Council. During a meeting held with Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Khaled Hanafy, Orlov revealed investing in the project can be through supplying Egypt with Russian corn, wheat and grain at competitive prices. Another meeting took place with Hanafy and representatives from both the Italian firm Frame Srl for silos manufacturing and the Spanish company Silos Cordoba. The Italian and Spanish delegations said they are ready to invest in the Damietta project through establishing modern silos for storing grain and wheat. Hanafy is considering the offers presented for investing in the global logistics project which aims to transform Egypt into a global logistics hub for securing food commodities for the country and for exporting to other countries in the region. The Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade said the volume of annual trade will be some 65m tonnes of grains and food commodities. The establishment of the project will take two years, and the government hopes it will bring major economic benefits for the country with the potential to create thousands of jobs in Egypt. In October, the government announced that they will be adopting the project. It was previously announced in a statement that the commencement of the project will take place in December 2014. Implementation, however, did not start until now, the ministry recently stating that the start of the implementation will take place soon, where the exact date is yet to be revealed. Since the announcement, Egypt has been receiving offers from several countries to invest in the project. In October, a Russian firm offered to form a consortium with Egypt to invest in the project, where it offered to supply Egypt with all the equipment and machinery required for it. In the same month, Emirati Company Al-Sweiden announced it will be investing around EGP 40bn in Egypt. The company aims to construct a commerce and shopping district close to the Suez Canal axis, and to assist in the establishment of the global logistics project. Hanafy then met with the company's president Ahmed Al-Sweiden, where the two parties signed a cooperation agreement which will allow them to discuss the operational mechanisms of the two projects. Earlier in November 2014, a delegation from the Italian embassy met with Hanafy, where they offered to cooperate in the building of silos and logistics areas, as well as the development of barns for storing wheat. In mid-November an Emirati holding company offered to manage all investments in the project. It was also announced by Hanafy that an international consulting firm requested to participate in the project by establishing over 600km of railway lines. The new lines will be used to transport grain and food commodities. In late November, Hanafy signed an agreement with the president of the Sudanese businessmen union Saud Albrair for Sudanese investment in the logistics project. The agreement involves the storing and handling of more than a million tonnes of wheat, grain, and sugar per year. In the same month Hanafy revealed that the national federation of industries made a number of offers to invest in the logistics project. The federation aims to participate through establishing a number of silos for storing grain commodities. Italian ambassador Maurizio Massari said in December 2014 that a trade mission of 50 major Italian energy and logistics sector companies will hold investment talks during a visit to Cairo in February 2015. Hanafy also said that many other offers from several countries and international companies have been received by the ministry. The interested countries included Saudi Arabia, China, Canada, Slovenia, Iraq, and the US.
