Egypt, Chinese automaker sign deal to manufacture electric buses locally
Egypt and Beijing-based automaker Foton Motor have signed a deal to manufacture electric buses in Egypt, the Ministry of Military Production said in a statement on Saturday.
The deal will see the manufacture of 2,000 electric buses over the course of four years, with 45 percent locally sourced components, the statement added.
The buses will be manufactured by a major military production ministry plant which provides armoured vehicles and armaments for Egypt’s armed forces.
The move is part of a general drive by the ministry to work with global companies to transfer modern technologies to Egypt, including in the booming electric-vehicle industry, the ministry said.
It added that Foton Motor has gifted Egypt a 180-seater electric bus for trial purposes.
The number of electric vehicles on roads worldwide rose to a record high of 3.1 million in 2017, an increase of 57 percent from 2016, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) published in May 2018.
The deal between the Chinese company and Egypt’s Ministry of Military Production and Ministry of Trade and Industry came during a visit by a delegation of top Egyptian officials, including President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, to the Chinese capital for an international summit on China’s Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
source: Ahram Online
