Madbouly: I am keen to follow up on these important projects, as they have direct investments of about one billion dollars and provide more than 35,000 job opportunities.
We are fully prepared to issue licenses promptly, and the government will respond immediately to remove any obstacles that investors may face during the implementation of projects.
Haier Egypt representative: We obtained a letter to allocate the land for the project to establish an industrial complex with investments of 130 million dollars.
Representative of the CFC-UAE: Next February, the contracting works for the project to establish a fodder complex in Qena, with investments of $400 million, will start as the first project within the framework of the “Joint Industrial Partnership” initiative.
Representative of the Turkish “Beko”: incorporating a new company to establish a factory in the 10th of Ramadan with investments of $100 million as a first stage for the production of refrigerators and ovens.
Representative of the Italian “Mapei”: The opening of the chemical and insulation materials factory in the 10th of Ramadan during the third quarter of 2023.
Representative of the Japanese "Sumitomo Egypt": After 3 months, the set-up of the company's largest factory in the world began in Egypt to manufacture electric braids for cars, with investments of $100 million.
Representative of the Japanese “Yazaki”: The construction of the factory for electrical systems for cars in Fayoum begins as soon as the land is allocated. The PM directs to present a memorandum to approve the allocation.
Representative of "Alex Apparels": acquires two factories for ready-made garments in 2022 and they are currently being developed to produce according to the European quality standards to reach a production capacity of more than 33 million pieces of clothing.
Benya representative: 90% of the fiber optic cable factory has been completed and 80% of the equipment has arrived.
The representative of "GENNECS": Discusses the establishment of a factory for the production of vaccines, with investments of $150 million.
Yesterday evening, Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly held a meeting at GAFI headquarters with representatives of nine foreign and local companies. The meeting intended to follow up the implementation of a number of new projects announced by these companies during the last period, and relevant memoranda of understanding were signed in sectors of: electrical household appliances, fertilizers and chemicals, construction chemicals, car components and braids, ready-made clothes, information technology, medicines and vaccines.The meeting was attended by Counselor Mohamed Abdel Wahab, GAFI CEO, Mr. Ahmed El Gendy, General Manager of Haier Egypt, which is a Chinese company specialized in electrical home appliances, Dr. Ahmed Khalifa, CEO of the UAE CFC Group, which specializes in the production of fertilizers and chemicals, Mr. Ümit Günel, Director of the Turkish Beko Egypt for Home Appliances, and Mr. Stefano Janacon, Regional Director of the Italian construction chemicals group Mapei in the Middle East and Africa.
The list of attendees included Mr. Ahmed Magdy, Managing Director of the Japanese "Sumitomo Egypt" for car braids, Mr. Ahmed Badawi, managing director of "Yazaki Europe Limited" of the Japanese manufacturer of automotive components, and Mr. Ihab Mohy, President of "Alex Apparels" for ready-made garments. Eng. Ahmed Makki, CEO of Bunya, which specializes in IT infrastructure, and Dr. Nepal Dehba, General Manager of GENNECS Pharmaceuticals.
At the beginning of the meeting, the PM said that he was keen to meet with investors to follow up on the implementation of the projects for which preliminary memoranda of understanding had been signed during the last period, as well as reviewing the new investments that companies intend to inject into the Egyptian market during the next stage.
He added: at the beginning, I would like to express my happiness to be with this group of investors at the headquarters of GAFI, and please tell us about the status of the projects that you have intended to implement in Egypt and the implementation schedule. He stressed that the government will respond immediately to remove any obstacles may face investors during the implementation.
Mostafa Madbouly added that we learnt a very important lesson from the current global crisis, which that came as the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, and before that the Covid-19 pandemic, that the manufacturing process should not be concentrated in a specific geographical area in the world as the production should be diversified around the globe.
He pointed out that the Egyptian state supports the increase of local manufacturing, directing his speech to investors: We are fully prepared to issue licenses promptly to serve the objectives of developing the national industry and various sectors, and now we would like to know about your next steps of implementing your projects.
On his part, Counselor Mohamed Abdel Wahab said, “The last period witnessed continuous follow-up by GAFI in order to facilitate all necessary procedures to actually start implementing these projects.”
He added that PM Mostafa Madbouly was assigned to deal immediately with the problems facing investors in all sectors, and to receive the results of following up the implementation of these projects.
During the meeting, Mr. Ahmed El-Gendy, General Manager of Haier Egypt, a Chinese company specialized in electrical household appliances, said that the company had obtained a letter of land allocation approved by the Industrial Development Authority (IDA) to establish an industrial complex on a surface area of 200,000 meters at 10th of Ramadan with investments of $130 million to manufacture household appliances and their feeding industries: washing machines, air conditioners and refrigerators. Moreover, he pointed out that the project is planned to be implemented in two phases, where the first phase starts production from 2024 at a cost of $85 million.
He explained that the project, for which he signed a MOU the last month, will be completely self-financed by the company in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), and will provide about 3500 direct and indirect job opportunities.Mr. Ahmed Khalifa, CEO of UAE CFC Group, indicated that it is planned to start contracting work in the company's project for the establishment of an industrial complex to produce feed, chemicals and fertilizers in Qena Governorate, during the month of February.
He added that the project was chosen as the first project that meets the terms of the "integrated industrial partnership" initiative between Egypt, UAE, Jordan and Bahrain, with total FDI estimated at $400 million, and a total paid-up capital of $100 million.
He continued: The complex is the first of its kind in the Middle East and Africa under the framework of private free zones for the production of MCP & DCP feed supplements using the latest German technology provided by The German "ODA ThyssenKrupp" on an area of 370,000 m2 in the “Al-Ho” industrial area in Nagaa Hammadi.
He stressed that the project is one of the most important strategic sectors due to its close connection with agricultural activity and food security and provides direct and indirect job opportunities amounted about 2,600 jobs. The total production capacity of the project is 1.5 million tons, pointing out that the complex will be built in accordance with sustainable development and green economy standards, and will fully meet the needs of the local market and allocate a large part of the production for export.
Mr. Umit Gunel, General Manager of Beko Egypt for Home Appliances, one of the giant Turkish Koç Group, indicated that Beko has established a new company in Egypt, to set up a factory for the production of electrical household appliances at 10th of Ramadan on an area of 114,000 m2.
He added that the company would implement the first phase of the project to produce 1.1 million units of refrigerators and ovens, with investments of $100 million, with a plan to expand to introduce more products.
The company also aims to export more than 60% of production to Europe, the Middle East and Africa and bears the “Made in Egypt” label, adding that the project plan is implemented according to a specific schedule to start production and the research and development center within one year.
He pointed out that the company is currently exporting its products from Turkey to various countries of the world, but after establishing its factory in Egypt, most of the export will be from Egypt, praising the Egyptian market, which achieves high growth rates and is distinguished by its low cost.
On his part, Mr. Stefano Iannacone, Middle East & Africa Regional Director of Mapei for chemical products for building, said that the company is currently carrying out construction work to establish a factory for chemicals and insulation materials at 10th of Ramadan in the industrially developed “Zona Franca” area, on a surface area of 28,000 m2. According to the company’s timetable, the project is expected to open during Q3 of 2023.Iannacone explained that the company will establish the project in two phases, and the investment cost of the first phase is estimated at about $20 million, stressing that Mapei intends to double its investments in Egypt in order to expand its exports from Egypt to the countries of the African continent and neighboring countries.
He continued: The Company supplies its products to implement a number of projects in the field of infrastructure (ports, airports, bridges and roads) as well as number of projects in the field of construction. He thanked the Egyptian government and GAFI for their support to obtain the project’s land.
Meanwhile, the Managing Director of Sumitomo Electric Wiring Systems, Egypt Division, Mr. Ahmed Magdy, revealed that the company will start, after 3 months, the construction works of its largest factory in the world in Egypt. Constructed on a surface area of 150,000 square meters in the 10th of Ramadan City, the factory will operate within Free Zones Framework and will produce electric braids for cars and vehicles.This project has been the subject matter of an MoU signed last July with investments estimated at $100 million, and its engineering drawings have been fully completed.
Mr. Magdy added that Sumitomo Egypt will start exporting abroad all of its new factory production before the end of 2023, and the company will establish a storage warehouse for raw materials to be used as a distribution center for North and Central African countries.
Moreover, construction is scheduled to take a year approximately, and operations are aimed to start by the end of 2023 creating about 10,000 job opportunities, Mr Magdy said.
He also pointed out that through effective cooperation with the Government of Egypt the company succeeded in establishing several factories, providing 12,000 job opportunities over the past five years, and exporting its products to more countries in Europe, America, Russia and worldwide.
On his part, the Managing Director of the Japanese company Yazaki Europe Limited for Automotive Products, Mr. Ahmed Badawi, said that upon receiving the land the company will begin construction of a factory for the manufacture of electrical systems for cars in Fayoum Governorate on a surface area of 60,000 square meters, with an initial investment cost of 20 million euros. The production process of the project is scheduled to start in December 2024.
He added that it is expected that about 3,000 job opportunities will be created in Fayoum Governorate, in addition to a large number of indirect job opportunities.
Meanwhile, Mr. Badawi asked PM for help to speed up the process of allocating the land required for the establishment of the factory in Fayoum.On another level, CEO of Alex Apparel Readymade Garments Company, Mr. Ihab Mohy, said that in 2022 the company acquired two ready-to-wear factories, and they are currently being developed for production as per European quality standards. Production is expected to reach more than 33 million pieces of clothing per annum. The project is expected to employ 10 thousand workers.
Mr. Mohy added that his company established a textile and dyeing factory with a production capacity of 70 tons of cloth per day operated by 4,000 workers. The company also established clothing factory compliant with green building standards, with an expected production capacity of 12 million pieces per annum and an expected employment of 2,500 workers. Its production operations are expected to start during 2023.
On his part, Eng. Ahmed Mekky, CEO of Benya, a company specialized in information technology infrastructure, said that about 90% of Benya’s fiber-optic cable factory has been completed, 80% of the factory's equipment has arrived, and it is expected to start production operations in November 2022.
He explained that the first phase of Benya cables factory costs EGP 750 million and covers 40% of local needs. He also noted that the project comes within the framework of the expansions in data centers.
General Manager of GENNECS, Dr. Nepal Dehba, presented a project to establish a factory in Egypt for biocosmetics and vaccines on a surface area of 33,000 square meters, with an expected FDI of $150 million.
Dahba said that the project, which is being implemented by a group of investors from Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, aims to domesticate the vaccine industry, especially since Egypt is one of the largest countries consuming vaccines. The factory will be established in two phases, she added.She also pointed out that the company aims to meet the Egyptian market's needs and export to Africa and the other Arab countries, adding that the project will utilize the latest modern technologies in vaccines and biocosmetics production. Furthermore, the company will establish the largest genetics scientific research center in Africa, and the project will operate entirely using new and renewable energy.
Dahba concluded that the project will cover all types of vaccines. Its production capacity will be 115 million doses per shift annually. This number can be doubled if the two-shift system is adopted. Finally, Dahba asked PM to support the project and facilitate obtaining the licenses as well as the procedures required therefor.
On his part, PM gave directives to the effect that the project be discussed in a meeting between GENNECS and the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA).
Madbouly concluded the meeting by thanking all the representatives of the companies and saying that he will follow up with them periodically on the progress of the projects in order to ensure that nothing impairs project timely implementation. He also expressed his aspiration to witness the inauguration of the first phases of these projects in the near future.
Finally, PM stressed the importance of these projects since they constitute an FDI of USD one billion and provide more than 35,000 job opportunities. Accordingly, the Government is keen to follow up on the progress of these projects, facilitate the procedures, and overcome any obstacles that might curb their progress.
