Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli attended on Wednesday 4-9-2024 an official dinner banquet in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife on the fringe of the Forum on China–Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

FOCAC focuses on enhancing African-Chinese cooperation within the framework of initiatives adopted by Beijing in this regard as well as the goals of the 2063 African Development Agenda.

Both the Chinese President and his Senegalese counterpart (co-chair of the forum) delivered speeches at the beginning of the dinner, in which the two speeches emphasized the depth of the historical relations between China and Africa, and the keenness to support them in all fields.

Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli delivered a speech on behalf of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in the second high-level session entitled "Industrial Transformation, Agricultural Modernization, and Green Development", on the sidelines of the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing.

The session was attended by South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Wang Huning and a number of heads of African states and governments.

The Prime Minister began his speech by thanking the friendly People's Republic of China and His Excellency President Xi Jinping for the warm welcome and generous hosting of the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). He also extended his congratulations to the friendly People's Republic of China on the occasion of the coming 75th National Day.

Madbouli said Egypt is adamant to continue joint coordination with China and African states to implement the outcome of the 9th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which in turn helps promote China-Africa relations and meet the aspirations of African peoples towards attaining development, prosperity, peace and stability. (MORE)

The prime minister added the FOCAC summit is held amid an international scene beset with political, security and economic challenges, a matter which requires adopting a different, more just and equitable approach that takes into account international changes and growing development needs of the countries of the Global South, particularly the needs of African states.

He stated that Africa enjoys broad prospects for development, as it has the world's highest population growth rates that exceeded 1.5 billion people this year.

Madbouli said Africa is a huge market that provides promising opportunities for trade and investment, especially after the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) entered into effect, which is considered a major achievement that was made during Egypt's presidency of the African Union in 2019.

He went on to say that Egypt has been seeking, during its current presidency of the NEPAD Steering Committee, to accelerate the execution of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and cooperate with African partners to remove obstacles to its implementation, notably mobilizing financing for pioneering African projects, such as the Grand Inga Dam, the navigational line between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea (VICMED) and the Cairo–Cape Town Highway, as well as the completion of the electrical interconnection network between African states.

The prime minister lauded the global development initiative put forward by China in 2021, which allows developing countries to select economic development paths that suit their national circumstances and priorities, while opening the door for benefiting from China's experience in eliminating poverty and achieving giant and rapid leaps in comprehensive development and economic progress.

Madbouli said new pledges made by Chinese President Xi Jinping will contribute to enhancing the China-Africa partnership in different fields and push forward the efforts to achieve comprehensive development in African states.

Madbouli added Africa needs a real partnership with China that succeeded in achieving an industrial boom, underlining the necessity of honing skills of African workers and benefiting from various trade agreements between African economic blocs to increase exports.

The prime minister called on the Chinese public and private sectors to inject further investments into African states, which in turn will help advance efforts to localize industry in Africa and transfer modern technologies.

He indicated Egypt is keen on developing its industrial sector as being a locomotive for economic growth, noting the government is preparing a national strategy to strengthen the Egyptian industry and transform Egypt into a regional industrial center. 

Madbouli highlighted different aspects of cooperation between Egypt and China in the industry field, citing the two countries' cooperation in establishing the TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (TEDA). 

He mentioned that the TEDA zone is an important economic and trade zone between Egypt and China, as it contributed to attracting nearly 170 companies by the end of July 2024 into auto parts, building materials, textiles, chemical industries, electrical appliances, machinery manufacturing and other industries. 

He pointed out that the actual investment volume of projects in the zone surpassed USD 3 billion, while the sales volume exceeded USD 5 billion.

Madbouli said the TEDA zone contributed to providing approximately 10,000 direct job opportunities and more than 80,000 indirect ones.

The prime minister shed light on the role of agriculture in bringing about food security for African peoples, saying African states face challenges that are related to their difficult access to food commodities and fertilizers due to the fluctuation of global supply chains, the disruption of shipping routes, and the shortage in agricultural productivity as a result of the repercussions of climate change, as well as the lack of funding. 

He stressed agriculture is the cornerstone of several African economies, as it accounts for more than 25% of Africa's GDP.

The prime minister emphasized the importance of modernizing agriculture to cope with social and economic challenges facing African countries that are most affected by the negative impacts of climate change.

He stated Egypt seeks to increase agricultural productivity, achieve food security and make the best use of Chinese technical and technological experience in the fields of forests, desertification control, drought-resistant crops, water resources management, modern irrigation systems, water treatment and desalination. 

Madbouli added water scarcity affects 2.5 billion people around the world, which requires bolstering cooperation with development partners to support the agriculture sector in developing countries, facilitating the transfer of technology, building capacities, improving infrastructure in rural areas, modernizing sustainable agricultural methods and irrigation systems and reducing agricultural production losses to reach a safe level of self-sufficiency. 

He also said that Egypt gives top priority to environment conservation and green transition as part of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

In this regard, he stressed Egypt's keenness to cooperate with China in the areas of green and low-carbon development, green economy and clean energy.

He affirmed the need to rapidly activate the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD's Centre of Excellence on Climate Change, headquartered in Egypt, so that it could help African countries address the effects of climate change.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli met with the director of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) Wen Bing, on the sidelines of his participation at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing on behalf of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi. 
Madbouli praised strong ties and strategic partnership between Egypt and China. 

Madbouli lauded great activities and ventures of the Chinese company in Egypt, namely its projects in the New Administrative Capital and New Alamein city. 

The premier said the Chinese company boasts a great position in Egypt over implementing major projects.

He voiced hope that the Chinese firm would not be confined to working in the contracting domain and to lure investments to the Egyptian market in different sectors. 

For his part, Wen extended thanks to the prime minister over the great support offered to CSCEC, expressing keenness to contribute to carrying out development plans adopted by the government. 

Founded in 1982, CSCEC is now a global investment and construction group featuring professional development and market-oriented operation.

China State Construction carries out business management through its public company - China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. and has eight listed companies and more than 100 subsidiaries.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli met with Chairman of China Energy Song Hailiang in the presence of Egyptian Ambassador to China Asem Hanafi.

Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli commended the volume of Chinese investments in Egypt, especially China Energy Company.

He voiced hope to partner with China Energy in a number of top priority projects in Egypt, including new and renewable energy projects.

Madbouli underlined the importance of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Egypt and China, especially in the economic and investment scores.

He noted that Egypt is deeply interested in projects of wind power plants and green hydrogen, adding that the company has presented offers in this regard.

He added that Egypt seeks localizing solar panels industry and technology linked to new and renewable energy, expressing preparedness to engage in partnerships in such projects as China is a leading country in this domain.

He voiced hope that China Energy would engage in partnership with Egypt in such projects.

Meanwhile, the chairman of China Energy said the company has 12 projects in Egypt at dlrs 2 billion, attributing the success of these projects to the continued support of the Egyptian state.

He thanked Madbouli for his support, stressing the company's keenness on sending working teams after official meetings with the Egyptian side.

He added that Egypt has promising potentials in the solar and wind energy generation domain.

He said the company will intensify cooperation with Egyptian government bodies to render successful more projects in this domain.

He noted that the company has an important project of green hydrogen in the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

He voiced hope to cooperate with Egypt in the field of exporting new and renewable energy, especially to Europe.

He said the company hopes to swiftly establish the first factory in North Africa and Egypt to produce green ammonia.

Reviewing the company's plans, Madbouli urged the company to swiftly establish factories to localize photovoltaic industries related to solar energy, storage batteries for renewable energy, and wind towers, stressing that the Egyptian government will be ready to provide all possible incentives in this regard as it currently considers this file a top priority. 

The Chinese company head said the firm will accelerate the establishment of factories and production centers of new and renewable energy technology.

Friday 6-9-2024

Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli participated in the 8th Conference of Chinese and African Entrepreneurs, chaired by Chinese Premier Li Qiang of the State Council and Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who is currently visiting Beijing to participate in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). 

The conference is a key event of the 2024 FOCAC Summit to promote trade exchanges between the two sides. The theme of the summit is "Joining Hands to Advance Modernization and Build a High-Level China-Africa Community with a Shared Future."

The conference has attracted more than 1,000 participants, including over 400 representatives from business associations and institutions across 48 African countries, including Senegal, South Africa and Kenya.

The participating companies come from both traditional industries, such as energy and mining, and emerging industries such as electronic technology, communications satellites and biomedicine.

Organized by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and China's Ministry of Commerce, the conference is the highest-level economic and trade event within the FOCAC framework for the business communities of both sides.

The Chinese premier delivered a keynote speech on his country's contribution to ongoing development efforts in African countries and the great opportunities available for cooperation between the two sides in the areas of intra-regional trade, modernizing industry and agricultural development.

The heads of state and government of Senegal, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Gabon, Comoros, and Sao Tome and Principe also delivered speeches that reflected their countries' keenness on cooperating with China in all domains, particularly in fields related to boosting intra-regional trade, modernizing industry, achieving agricultural and infrastructure development, technology transfer, and energy diversification through the use of new and renewable energy resources.

In his speech, the Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce reviewed opportunities to enhance intra-regional trade.

For his part, the Chairman of the Chinese Development Bank underlined the bank’s efforts to back economic and development projects in African countries.

Giving a speech at the opening of the conference, Secretary General of the Federation of Egyptian Chambers of Commerce (FEDCDC) Alaa Ezz stressed the depth of ties between the two sides.

He underlined the opportunities available for cooperation between China and African countries, stressing the importance of supporting infrastructure and transportation projects with the view to beefing up trade exchange, particularly in light of a number of important projects, topped by the Cairo–Cape Town Highway. The route has a length of 10,228 km and links Cairo in Egypt to Cape Town in South Africa.

Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli witnessed the signing of final contracts for a package of new projects to be carried out in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE).  

Those projects, worth more than USD one billion, will cover chemical and food industries, bromine production and the manufacture of components of solar cell glass.

The signing ceremony was also attended by Waleid Gamal El-Dien, Chairman of the SCZONE, and Egypt’s ambassador to China Asem Hanafy.

Gamal El-Dien said the contracts included an agreement with industrial developer TEDA-Egypt to establish a factory for glass production over an area of 500,000 square meters.

The project is one of the main pillars to localize renewable energy-related industries with total investments of $300 million, contributing to creating some 800 job opportunities.

He said that the project also aims to export products to North Africa, the Middle East and Europe with 240,000 tons of exports a year, while the annual export revenues amount to $120 million.

Gamal El-Dien also met with Yu Jiang, President of the Chinese BEFAR Group (Binhua), which is one of China’s largest companies specialized in manufacturing chemicals, petrochemicals and new materials. 

A contract has been inked to carry out a project in the Suez Canal zone to produce chloralkali over an area of 400,000 square meters.

The project’s production capacity is 100,000 tons with investment costs of $500 million.

The project, whose construction works will start by late 2024 and lasts for three years, contributes to creating some 795 job opportunities.

Also a contract has been inked to carry out a project in the Suez Canal zone to produce chloralkali over an area of 400,000 square meters.

The project’s production capacity is 100,000 tons with investment costs of $500 million.

The project, whose construction works will start by late 2024 and lasts for three years, contributes to creating some 795 job opportunities.

Gamal El-Dien said the deals also included usufruct contracts with Elite Solar to establish a factory of solar cells in the Suez Canal zone over an area of 77,000 square meters.

The project’s investment cost amounts to $100 million and contributes to creating some 600 job opportunities.

A usufruct contract was also inked between TEDA and Dahui Glucose & Tiba Starch to establish a factory of starch over an area of 41,000 square meters.

He said that the project’s investment cost amounts to $7.5 million and contributes to creating some 156 direct job opportunities.

Gamal El-Dien said a usufruct contract was also inked between TEDA and Kaks Investment Co. to establish a supply chain of home appliances in Egypt over an area of 80,000 square meters.

The project’s estimated investment cost hits $50 million and it is expected to create 300 direct job opportunities.

He added that such contracts reflect the Suez Canal Economic Zone’s success in attracting investments and gaining the confidence of Chinese investors in different domains.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli witnessed the signing of an agreement to establish a global industrial complex to extract bromine in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE). 

The deal was inked with Shandong Tianyi Chemical Corporation on the sidelines of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), currently held in Beijing.

Walid Gamal Eddin, head of the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone, signed a framework agreement of all contracts of the project with Maoan Lee, head of Shandong Tianyi, and Li DaiXin, head of TEDA company. 

Gamal Eddin said that the project, which is the first of its kind in the Middle East and Africa region, is carried out under the directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to localize bromine industry.

He added that the project is set to be implemented over an area of 120,000 square meters with total investments worth $110 million. 

Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli also witnessed the inking of five memorandums of understanding to establish three factories for manufacturing fiber optic cables and communications equipment, as well as building three centers for exporting outsourcing services in the fields of electronic circuit design, software development, optical networks, green transformation technology and semiconductors.

The MoUs also include the establishment of a technology investment fund worth USD 300 million, a data center and four centers and laboratories to train and build the capacities of more than 3,250 specialists.

Meetings

On the sidelines of the forum, the prime minister met with CEOs of prominent Chinese companies that many of which operate in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. 

Chinese executives briefed Madbouli on the implementation status of their projects in Egypt and future plans for expansion in the Egyptian market in the coming period. 

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli met with Henan Deputy General Manager Zhu Hongbing.

During the meeting, Madbouli stressed the importance of Chinese Henan Investment Group Co., Ltd. investing in Egypt in the field of new and renewable energy during the current stage. 

Madbouli highlighted incentive packages offered by the Egyptian government in the investment field, in addition to Egypt’s joining of a number of international trade agreements that further promote exports, pointing up that all this will help localize nuts and bolts of new and renewable energy industries.

Henan Investment Group Co.,Ltd operates in the electricity business. The Company also conducts paper manufacturing, cement products manufacturing, financial business, and more. Henan Investment Group markets its products throughout China.

The prime minister discussed the Egyptian government's plans to increase by 42% the contribution of renewables to the energy mix produced by the country within the coming years.

Meantime, Madbouli explained the Egyptian State’s efforts to establish electricity linkage with a number of neighboring countries, in a way that supports the national power grid.

Madbouly also shed light on the importance of localizing of the electric car industry, pointing out that Egypt has a law for regulating the electric car industry, that fully supports localization of this vital sector, especially in light of provided incentives.

Meantime, the Egyptian premier underscored Egypt's efforts to expand in the field of "water desalination", an additional area of ​​investment by the company, especially as regards locally producing components of all related projects across the country.

For his part, Henan deputy chairman reviewed the company's main activities in various investment fields, especially those of new and renewable energy.

The two sides agreed to arrange a visit for Henan Company's officials to Egypt to discuss more technical details in this regard.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli met with Chairman and Executive Director of ZTE Corp. Li Zixue tapping the Egyptian market, saying the Chinese company has a great reputation in the field of communications and information technology. 

During the meeting, Madbouli said the company has a great interest in investing in Egypt, referring to efforts meant to provide necessary support for the company to establish a factory that provides products to the Egyptian market, as well as for export.

ZTE Corporation is a publicly owned Chinese business that designs and builds telecommunications equipment and systems.

ZTE offers many telecommunications products that provide services, such as video on demand and streaming media to its customers, that are mainly people that provide telecommunications services. ZTE has 13 of its own R&D centers in China, USA, Sweden and Korea.

Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat and Egyptian Ambassador to China Assem Hanafi took part in the meeting that was held on the sidelines of the prime minister's participation in the Beijing-hosted 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on behalf of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

Madbouli said the government has succeeded in attracting a number of Chinese companies specialized in manufacturing mobile phones and tablet devices, voicing hope the company will establish a factory specialized in producing these products in Egypt, to meet local market needs and also export to regional countries, especially that Egypt enjoys trade agreements with African, Arab and Europe countries and economic blocs.

Madbouli also said the company can enjoy many of the advantages and incentive packages Egypt provides to foreign companies, including acquiring a Golden License to help promote its investments.

For his part, the company's chairman welcomed the visit of the Egyptian side, headed by Madbouli to Beijing, voicing thanks over the great support offered by the Egyptian government to strengthening investment cooperation.

He pointed out that he met the Egyptian ICT minister more than once to discuss the company's projects and executive plans. The ZTE chairman said his company was looking forward to the continued support of the Egyptian government in this regard.

Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli on Friday evening left Beijing Capital International Airport, heading back home after he took part in the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on September 4-6.

Madbouli affirmed the government’s interest in localizing the nuts and bolts of the automobile industry in Egypt, especially pertaining to Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs).

Madbouli accentuated the government’s keenness on localizing the automobile industry, voicing full trust in the company’s abilities to manufacture hybrid cars in Egypt, saying that the government would provide a package of incentives in this respect.

GWM is a Chinese privately owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Baoding, Hebei, China. Named after the Great Wall of China, the company largely produces sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and pick-up trucks. It is one of the top ten Chinese automobile manufacturers with 1.23 million vehicles sold globally in 2023, Official Spokesman for the Egyptian Cabinet Mohamed el-Homsani said.

Walid Gamal el-Din, Chairman of the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) and Egyptian Ambassador in Beijing Assem Hanafi took part in the meeting.

The GWM chairman voiced happiness over meeting Madbouli on the sidelines of the forum’s activities, indicating that the company has begun studying the Egyptian market as of March 2023 and expressing great interest in investing in Egypt, with a view to its distinguished geographical location.

Wei underlined his company’s interest in continued communication with the Egyptian government and the SCZONE’s officials.

Thanks to agreements signed by Egypt, representing an important incentive to encourage exports, “we will rely on Egypt, not only to meet the needs of the local market for our car products, but also in exporting manufactured products and spare parts to neighboring countries,” said the GWM chairman.

Meantime, Wie said the Chinese government encourages Chinese companies to invest in the Egyptian market.

He also said GWM intends to launch a car in Egypt that meets growing demand. The Chinese government supports and encourages Chinese companies and institutions to enter the Egyptian market, he added, pointing out that this project would provide about 4,000 job opportunities. 

The prime minister said all drives are meant to promote the State’s Vision 2030 pertaining to the sustainable development strategy, as Egypt aims to reduce GHG emissions in the energy sector by 10% by 2030.

After an important visit that witnessed the signing of contracts exceeding one billion dollars: