Russia to start financing construction of industrial zone in Egypt next year – official

Russia will start financing construction of its anticipated sprawling industrial zone in Egypt, First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Vasily Osmakov said on Friday.

“We will start funding construction of the Russian industrial zone in Egypt from the next year. We are thinking of replicating such experience in other countries, for example, in Uzbekistan,” TASS quoted Osmakov as saying at the Made in Russia international export forum.

The construction of the industrial zone was initially planned to kick off in 2020 but the timeframe was shifted due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In May 2018, Egypt and Russia inked a 50-year agreement to establish a sprawling industrial zone over 5.25 million square metre (57 million square foot) in east of Port Said. Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi endorsed the agreement a year later.

The industrial zone will enable Russia to localise products manufactured for Egyptian, African, and Middle Eastern markets. Russian developers are allowed to lease the area for 50 years.

It is planned that resident companies will be enabled to launch production as early as in 2022.