French cosmetics company L’Oreal inaugurated a plant in 10 Ramadan city near Cairo on Thursday with investments worth EU50 million ($57 million). The 10 Ramadan site is the company’s first factory in the Middle East and North Africa, according to state news agency MENA.

The plant, which will create 300 jobs, will focus on exporting 90 percent of its production to the Middle East and North Africa, said Benoit Julia, country managing director at L’Oreal.

There are 150 French companies operating in Egypt, creating around 33,000 jobs, and with total investments amounting to EU3 billion ($3.4 billion), Andre Parant, French ambassador to Egypt, said at the inauguration.

France was Egypt’s ninth biggest trading partner in the first quarter of the current fiscal year at a value of $809.8 million.

Foreign direct investments from France, the fourth largest from the European Union, were $347.4 million in the fiscal year 2013/14 according to central bank figures. The first quarter of the current fiscal year saw French FDI jump 84 percent to $47.1 million, compared to $25.6 million the same period a year earlier.

France will participate in the Egyptian Economic Development Conference to be held in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh in mid-March to attract investments, Baran added.

Egypt hopes to attract investment of $10-$12 billion for 20 projects at the conference, Minister for International Cooperation Naglaa El-Ahwany said in November.

Egypt is expecting to achieve 4 percent growth by the end of the current fiscal year, Minister of Investment Ashraf Salman has said.