Sumitomo Egypt signs MoU to establish largest factory in Egypt

Sumitomo Egypt, part of Japanese company Sumitomo, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Egyptian General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) on Wednesday to establish the world’s largest factory for the manufacturing of automotive wire harnesses in Tenth of Ramadan City.

The factory will be built over an area of 150,000 square metres, according to a Cabinet statement, without disclosing the amount of the planned investment.

Mirchi Serbo, president of Sumitomo Europe Limited, said that the company’s decision to increase its investments in Egypt was a reflection of its confidence in the investment climate in the country.

Ahmed Magdy, managing director of Sumitomo Egypt, indicated that the project will take a year and a half to be implemented, and it is expected to start operating by the end of 2023.

The factory came as a result of the Egyptian government’s recently-approved decisions to offer new incentives and procedural facilities for investors aimed at localising the automotive industry and transferring modern technical technologies to Egypt, Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly said in the statement.

Mohamed Abdel Wahab, CEO of GAFI, has signed the MoU with and Sumitomo Egypt’s Magdy.

Abdel Wahab said that Sumitomo exports all its products to most of the international car manufacturers in Europe and the Middle East, through eight production sites distributed between Port Said and the cities of the Tenth of Ramadan and the Sixth of October.

Sumitomo provides about 10,000 job opportunities, while this number expected to double after the completion of all the company’s new expansions in Egypt, the GAFI official added.

Moreover, Madbouly assured that Sumitomo Egypt’s goals are to raise the rates of exporting its products abroad and provide new job opportunities.

In March, Japanese Sumitomo Electric Industries has decided to move its production of automotive wire harnesses to safer zones due to the Russian-Ukraine war and heightened risks in the European zone.