The project will be established on a total area of 1.7 million m2 with a production value of $2.6 billion per year, and is expected to provide over 2,100 job opportunities, said Xinxing’s General Manager Qi Shu He in a meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

The project’s first phase, which extends over an area of 250,000 square metres, includes the production of cast iron pipes, with investments of about $150 million.

The first phase has a capacity of 250,000 tons annually and an annual production value of about $1.2 billion and is expected to employ 616 people.

The second phase will be concerned with the steel industry and is intended for export.

With investments amounting to about $1.8 billion, the second phase extends over 1.45 million square metres.

It has a production capacity of 2 million tons annually and an annual production value of about $1.4 billion and is expected to employ 1,500 people.

By accomplishing the two phases, Xinxing’s General Manager said, Egypt would become a central hub for producing cast iron pipes.

He added that the project would contribute to bridging the gap in Egypt and Africa's cast iron pipe industry.

For his part, Madbouly expressed the state’s support for the proposed project, adding that he will personally follow up on all the procedures related to allocating lands, obtaining licences and providing all the necessary facilities for the project.

The project will be carried out in cooperation with China-Egypt TEDA.

Chairman of the General Authority of the SCZONE, Walid Gamal El-Din, asserted that TEDA is one of the essential industrial developers in the SCZONE, adding that thanks to TEDA, multiple Chinese investments have been injected in Egypt.

Chairperson of TEDA Group Leo Emin, who also attended the meeting, hailed the SCZONE for its constant support in overcoming any obstacles facing existing Chinese investments within its scope.

The China-Egypt TEDA SCZONE is a national overseas economic and trade cooperation zone authorised by Egypt and China’s Ministry of Commerce.

 It targets boosting “capacity cooperation” between the two countries.