SCZONE receives the Italian Ambassador to discuss means of cooperation in the targeted sectors

Mr. Waleid Gamal El-Dien, Chairman of the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE), received Mr. Michele Quaroni, Ambassador of Italy to Egypt, to discuss aspects of cooperation between the two parties, especially in light of the SCZONE’s efforts to attract various global investments that are consistent with the needs of the Local and regional markets, in addition to the pioneering role achieved by SCZONE in the green transformation, which brings new horizons for cooperation in the fields of green fuel production and its complementary and feeding industries, in addition to green bunkering services.

During the meeting, the capabilities of SCZONE were presented, including 4 industrial zones and 6 seaports on the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Egypt set a vision to maximize the use of SCZONE potential by equipping it with world-class infrastructure, in addition to the strategy for integration between the ports and the Industrial and logistics areas, which provided a model for supporting supply chains and the movement of trade and industry, and thus this readiness contributed to SCZONE being a center for green fuel industries, as the region achieved leadership through the success of the first green bunkering operation in the Eastern Mediterranean and Africa at the East Port Said Port for the ship “Laura” Maersk in August 2023, which ranks 10th  among the world’s ports in the field of container transshipment, in addition to the fact that the first green ammonia shipment in the world was exported from “Egypt for green hydrogen” factory in November 2023, and SCZONE is now working on plans to support production operations with green fuel to be a center for green products.

” We have various  industrial targeted sectors, which could represent promising opportunities for cooperation with Italian investments, especially in areas of common interest, such as the food, pharmaceutical, and automotive industries. We offer a diversity of incentives within SCZONE through direct and indirect financial incentives, exemptions for exported goods, and the export support program. The diversity of these incentives is offered according to the extent of the final product’s dependence on local components, the volume of investment, the volume of employment, and the type of product. The proximity of industrial areas to the ports and the free trade agreements that enable access to various global markets are also an added point to the investment incentives.” Mr. Waleid Gamal El-Dien declared.

“The opportunities offered within SCZONE and the kind of work that has been done is very impressive. In addition to the concept of the integration between ports and industrial areas which is a very smart concept. We dealt with Al-Arish port, which is affiliated with SCZONE, as it received the Italian floating hospital that offered healthcare for injured people from Gaza, which demonstrates the pivotal role of the strategic location of SCZONE. There is an interest from many Italian companies to cooperate in the fields of the automotive industries, agricultural industries, biofuels, pharmaceutical industries, and food industries. We will conduct more meetings with the Italian business community to discuss aspects of cooperation in these fields and study the most suitable places within SCZONE to establish it.” Mr. Michele Quaroni said.

It is worth noting that SCZONE is studying cooperation with more European ports on the Mediterranean Sea in the field of transshipping green fuel in the future to facilitate its transfer from the green fuel production hub in SCZONE to consumption markets in Europe.