Egypt Sets Up Company for Railway Industries

Egypt is set to establish the first national company for the railway industries. Today, Planning Ministry Hala el Saied and Transport Minister Kamel el Wazir witnessed the sign of the establishment contract of the National Company for Railway Industries.

The contract was signed on the sidelines of Cairo ICT 2020 between the General Authority For Suez Canal Economic Zone, Egypt Sovereign Fund, and the private sector, represented in Samcrete For Investments Company, Hassan Allam Holding, Orascom Construction (15% of the company's capital), and CONNECT Professional Services, the Transport Ministry said in a statement.

[caption id="attachment_177231" align="aligncenter" width="960"] Planning Minister and Transport Minister[/caption]

The new-established company will aim to localize the railway industry in Egypt to meet its needs and export the surplus regionally and globally in light of the state's plan to set up an industrial base in this domain to attract the related international companies.

Meanwhile, Saied said the Planning Ministry is keen to implement the political leadership's directives to localize the production of locomotives in Egypt, pointing to the importance of the private sector's participation in this project.

[caption id="attachment_177232" align="aligncenter" width="960"] The Signing Ceremony[/caption]

Saied noted that the company's investments are expected to reach $10 billion in the coming ten years.

"The fund succeeded in attracting local and foreign investors to ink agreements on establishing multilateral partnerships despite the recent economic challenges," the minister stated.

Meantime, SCZone Chairman Yehia Zaki said the project's estimated investment cost reach $240 million, saying the two-phase venture will be located in East Port Said Industrial Zone over an area of 300,000 square meters.

According to Zaki, the company's production capacity is predicted to be 300 locomotives annually