Egypt’s General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) reported a 38% year-on-year revenue increase in the fiscal year 2024/25, reaching EGP 11.43 billion ($234 million). The authority also recorded a surplus of EGP 8.49 billion for the same period. This growth is notable as it occurred despite a steep downturn in traffic through the Suez Canal itself, which saw a 54.1% decline in revenues and a 44.8% drop in ship transits between July 2024 and March due to ongoing Red Sea tensions.
Investment and Project Contracts
SCZONE’s successful performance is attributed to its strategy of attracting foreign investment. The authority’s promotional efforts resulted in securing a total of 297 project contracts with a combined value of $8.6 billion. This includes 286 industrial, service, and logistics projects worth $7.09 billion, as well as 11 seaport projects valued at $1.5 billion. The authority’s goal is to attract businesses by providing access to local markets, skilled labor, and integrated industrial parks.
Industrial Zones and New Sectors
SCZONE highlighted progress in two key industrial areas. In Ain Sokhna, foreign investment was successfully attracted to sectors such as renewable energy, electronics, pharmaceuticals, automotive components, and metal manufacturing. Meanwhile, the Qantara West zone saw the implementation of 31 projects across 2 million square meters, with a total investment of $799 million, expected to create 45,000 job opportunities. Looking forward, SCZONE aims to attract new projects in technology and semiconductors, electronics, engineering equipment, solar cells, and silica sand mining. The authority has already secured $43 million in foreign investment in silica mining and modern building materials.
Promotional Efforts
As part of its strategy to attract new foreign direct investment, SCZONE conducted a promotional tour in several Chinese provinces. The tour included meetings with major Chinese companies and culminated in the signing of six new contracts for industrial projects in the textile and garment sector, valued at a combined $117.5 million.
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Source: Arab News
