Egypt's Suez Canal Economic Zone's (SCZONE) delegation has concluded its promotional tour in Indian cities of New Delhi and Mumbai. During the tour, SCZONE Chairperson Waleid Gamal El-Dein met with representatives of Indian multinational Tata Group, headquartered in Mumbai, which provides its services in more than 150 countries. This comes within the framework of the promotional plan for the current year to knock on the doors of Asian businesses and attract more Indian companies operating in diverse fields. The meeting dealt with a presentation on the SCZONE region, its components, incentives and investment opportunities in it, targeted industrial sectors. In addition, the development work taking place in the region's ports to enhance its competitiveness in the Red Sea and Mediterranean countries, especially those overlooking the Red Sea, which in turn contribute to the ease of linking the Asian, European and African markets through it and passing through the Suez Canal. The delegation met Shohab Rais, consultant for new projects at Tata Chemicals, which specialises in basic petrochemical products for glass industries, detergents, medicines, and others. Moreover, the company owns the largest salt factories in Asia, the third largest soda ash factory, as well as the sixth largest sodium bicarbonate "soda ash" factory in the world. The SCZONE targets to localise the petrochemical industry, especially soda ash, the most important raw material. It is a productive input for approximately 50 important industries, such as glass and detergents. Egypt imports no less than 500,000 tonnes annually, with an import value estimated at about $330m. The delegation also met with Koustuv Kakati, Head of Regulatory Affairs and Manish Mishra, Head of Corporate Affairs of Tata Steel Ltd, to discuss ways of joint cooperation in the localisation of iron and steel industries, one of the region's targets, especially that the industrial zones affiliated to the SCZONE are ready to receive heavy industries. The delegation also met members of the Federation of Indian Industries – for the western region, headed by K. Nandakumar, who confirmed the federation's keenness to find Egyptian partners in various industrial sectors and to increase trade exchange between the two countries. Nandakumar described Egypt as a large market from which any investment can be launched to the global markets. The Federation also aspires for the SCZONE, through joint cooperation, to be a center for Indian industries, and a gateway for Indian products and goods to African markets, one of the huge consumer markets.
