"the belt and road initiative" Builds a New Platform for International Trade and Investment

Source: People's Daily

Author Walid Jamaldin

The author is Chairman of the General Administration of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, Egypt

Original title: "Building a New Platform for International Trade and Investment"

The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" helped build an open world economy, built a new platform for international trade and investment, and deepened global cooperation with the concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution and sharing, and achieved great success

The Suez Canal Economic Zone is located at the junction of Asia, Africa and Europe, with a total area of more than 455 square kilometers. It is not only the gateway of trade between the East and the West, but also the industrial and logistics center built by Egypt. In the 2022-2023 fiscal year, revenue from the Suez Canal rose to $9.4 billion billion. A total of 25887 ships transited the Suez Canal, carrying a total of 1.5 billion tons of cargo, the highest in the history of the Suez Canal Authority. In the context of the weak recovery of the world economy, the revenue of the Suez Canal and the number of transit ships have maintained growth, which is of great significance to the stability of global trade.

Walid Jamaluddin visits Tianjin and meets with Mayor Zhang Gong

The initiative to jointly build the "Belt and Road" is widely welcomed internationally, and Egypt is a natural partner in the joint construction of the "Belt and Road. Egypt is the largest economy in North Africa and has great potential for development. Egypt has outstanding geographical advantages and sufficient labor force. In recent years, it has introduced a series of measures to promote economic development, which has effectively promoted the country's industrialization and economic growth. Egypt and China have frequent high-level exchanges, and the friendly relations and cooperation in various fields between the two countries have been continuously deepened.

The joint construction of the "Belt and Road" has helped build an open world economy, built a new platform for international trade and investment, and deepened global cooperation with the concept of extensive consultation, joint contribution and sharing, and achieved great success. The establishment of the Suez Canal Economic Zone is a manifestation of Egypt's construction of an open market and the promotion of trade liberalization. The Suez Canal Economic Zone helps Egypt and even the African region to align national development strategies with the joint construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, providing development opportunities for all parties, and also helping enterprises from China and other countries to enter the markets of Egypt and neighboring economies to further facilitate international trade.

The China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone is an important part of the Suez Canal Economic Zone and a landmark project for Egypt and China to jointly build the "Belt and Road. The Egypt-China TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone covers an area of more than 7.3 million square meters, attracting more than 140 enterprises to settle in, with actual investment of more than 1.7 billion US dollars, cumulative sales of more than 3.8 billion US dollars, and taxes and fees paid of more than 0.2 billion US dollars. It directly solves the employment problem of more than 5000 people, and the industry drives employment of about 50000 people, which effectively promotes economic and trade exchanges and investment cooperation between Egypt and China. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Egypt-China TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone. Egypt and China will further consolidate bilateral cooperation, build the brand of the cooperation zone, and promote the comprehensive strategic partnership between Egypt and China.

Egypt and China are representatives of two ancient civilizations, two large developing countries and emerging market countries, with close bilateral economic and trade exchanges. China has become Egypt's largest trading partner for nine consecutive years, and is one of the countries with the most active and fastest growing investment in Egypt in recent years. In the past few years, Egypt's rapid population growth and accelerated infrastructure development have shown new opportunities. The "Belt and Road Initiative" initiative is in line with Egypt's "2030 Vision", which has promoted the growth of bilateral trade and investment. Now, more and more Chinese companies are coming to Egypt to invest in important areas such as energy, power, health and infrastructure. In the fields of clean energy, new energy vehicles, pharmaceuticals, clothing, textiles and other fields, Chinese enterprises can carry out in-depth supply and demand matching with the Egyptian market, and it is believed that the two sides will achieve greater win-win cooperation.

In May this year, I visited Beijing, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and other places in China, each of which impressed me deeply. China has shown unique advantages in many aspects, and we can learn from the successful experience of China's development. Soon, I will go to China to attend the third "the belt and road initiative" International Cooperation Summit Forum. There is great potential for cooperation between Egypt and China, and I look forward to more Chinese enterprises investing in the Suez Canal Economic Zone. We are willing to engage in dialogue with more Chinese enterprises to deepen Egypt-China cooperation and achieve common development.

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