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SCZone delegation promotes investments from Japan

SCZone Egyptian and Japanese officials at SCZone
A delegation from the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) recently visited Japan to promote investment opportunities at the burgeoning industrial hub.

The Egyptian roadshow introduced an array of green projects to 100 Japanese economic entities, including companies, banks, and financing and international cooperation institutions, it said.

Top of the visitors’ agenda were meetings with the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development (JOIN) and Marubeni Corporation.

The Egyptian delegation was led by Waleid Gamal El Dien, chairman of SCZone, and Mohamed Abu Bakr, Egyptian ambassador to Japan. An SCZone statement said that a number of Japanese investments already existed within the zone.

SCZone’s delegation presented a number of investment opportunities to underline the importance of integration between ports and industrial zones. SCZone and JOIN agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding in several fields, in addition to arranging a future visit to Egypt for JOIN officials.

“SCZone offers new horizons for Japanese investment in various economic sectors, as it is an integrated and unique national economic project, in terms of the location and number of seaports. We also offer our investors various direct and indirect incentives to guarantee an attractive investment atmosphere,” Gamal El-Dien said.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Marubeni Corporation’s participation in the SCZone’s green development could be a feather in Egypt’s cap. The group is active in the fields of energy, infrastructure solutions, transportation, equipment and machinery manufacturing, financial solutions, and consumer products.

It also carries out green fuel projects, and it intends to establish new industrial zones. It owns over 130 subsidiaries around the world, as well as 16 liquefied gas tankers and operates 250 passenger aircraft.

SCZone officials also met with the Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group, which manages over 700 assets around the world and has four global offices, in addition to investments in the fields of alternative energy, industrial and commercial activities. Sumitomo is looking to sponsor green fuel projects within SCZone, and has launched green financing programmes for this type of project elsewhere.

A number of international concerns, including the UK's Globeleq, and a consortium featuring the UAE's Masdar, have announced green-fuel projects in the SCZone in the past 12 months.

Meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli after the trip, Gamal El Dien said several projects in the areas of water desalination and the development of the ports at East Port Said, Al Adabiya and Al Arish, were underway or had been completed. Madbouli called progress in attracting investments “promising.”