China Fortune Land Development (CFLD) said it has been awarded the contract to build a new industrial city in Egypt’s new administrative capital.

The country's new capital will come up in an area between Cairo and Suez, a city along the Suez Canal. Once completed, the new administrative capital, which will serve as Egypt's new political and financial centre, will effectively drive the development of the Suez Canal Economic Belt and the Red Sea Economic Belt.

This is the company's first major project in Africa, stated Zhao Hongjing, the president of CFLD International, after signing the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Mostafa Madbouly, Egypt's Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development, and Dalia Khorshid, Minister of Investment in Cairo.

The signing ceremony was held in the presence of Egypt’s Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, the Minister of Trade and Industry and other officials.

Prior to this, Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al Sisi welcomed CFLD’s plans to develop and construct Egypt's new administrative capital, expecting CFLD to play an instrumental role in the development of Egypt's infrastructure and urban development plans.

This signals a breakthrough for CFLD in the African market, as this marks a positive move forward in its global plans, noted Hongjin.

On the industrial city's strategic importance, the Chinese official said: "Facing Europe in the north and Asia in the east and adjoining Africa in the south, Egypt is the place where the League of Arab States is headquartered. This strategic position makes Egypt a key node under  the 'One Belt One Road' strategy and a bridgehead via which Chinese enterprises go out for trans-continental development."

Egypt is an important gateway for African and Middle East countries and China has become Egypt's largest trade partner, with a trade volume amounting to $12.9 billion in 2015 alone, he added.

In September last year, China and Egypt signed the China-Egypt Industrial Capacity Cooperation Framework Agreement.

As per the terms of the MOU, Phase Two of Egypt's national strategic project - new administrative capital initiative-  will see CFLD integrate the urban planning, construction and the operation to build this city with a high degree of industrial agglomeration, urban functionality, all within a sustainable ecological environment.

President Sisi said: "CFLD is superior in industrial planning, industrial investment promotion, and urban development, construction and operation and in the future, the two sides can deepen cooperation by complementing each other's superior resources."

"This is a good development opportunity for Egypt," stated Hongjing as CFLD is ramping up its efforts to get involved into the industrial and financial planning of the new administrative capital, support the economic development of Egypt, and build a one-stop service platform for global investment in Egypt.

"The establishment of this new industrial city in Egypt is, undoubtedly, an important step in the global deployment of CFLD's new industrial cities. The signing of this MOU is another positive result of 'the One BeltOne Road' strategy. It is of great significance to deepening China-Egypt industrial capacity cooperation and promoting regional economic development," he added.-TradeArabia News Service