Egypt’s Sokhna Integrated Industrial Zone is getting a new textile factory.
The general authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) and Chinese industrial developer TEDA-Egypt announced Monday that they have laid the foundation stone of Egypt Cady Textiles, a $60 million, 145,500-square-meter facility that they say will produce “high-end, environmentally friendly” textiles and “intelligent” seamless garments using smart manufacturing methods.
Comprising six buildings that will be constructed in three phases, the first of which will begin this year and end before the close of 2024, Egypt Cady Textiles is poised to deliver an annual output of 50,000 tons of polyester fabric and 8 million pieces of seamless clothing amounting to some $150 million in sales, the organizations said.
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Egypt’s strategic geographical location has given it a key position in the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s $1 trillion plan to build infrastructure and telecommunications networks across Africa, Asia and Europe. It’s for this reason their bilateral relationship has seen significant growth over the years, complete with an outpouring of economic and trade investments.
“I’m happy to lay the foundation stone for the Cady Egypt project,” Lai Siqing, Vice Chairman of TEDA China-Africa, said in a statement. “I want to thank SCZONE for creating a favorable work environment and supporting Chinese companies, in coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the industrial developer TEDA Egypt’s existence and the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative.”
Lai noted that Egypt Cady Textiles’s listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange “expresses the strength of this company,” which will be geared largely toward export to Europe and the United States.
The factory, TEDA-Egypt’s largest to date, is part of the development company’s broader expansion in the Sokhna zone Gulf of Suez’s western shore, where it operates more than 130 industrial and service facilities with investments amounting to $1.6 billion.
“We are proud of the diversity of the projects being held within SCZONE, especially the fruitful partnership with Chinese investments, which is expected to witness more cooperation in the coming months,” SCZONE chairman Waleid Gamal El-Dein said. “We are keen on supporting the textile sector, for which SCZONE provides the infrastructure, legislative frameworks, and trade agreements that allow access to neighboring markets.”
