The Tedas, pioneers on the shores of the Red Sea

Drive for 1.5 hours along the highway from Cairo to Insukhana in Suez Province, and come to Insukhana, the third largest port in Egypt. Opposite the beautiful port, an industrial park full of Chinese style stands. With thoroughfares, high-rise buildings, neat factories and luxuriant green plants, this is the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, a key project of Egypt-China cooperation, an oasis full of hope and vitality. What is unimaginable is that eight years ago, it was still a barren Huangsha Gobi.

For TEDA, the Sino-Egyptian TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone cause seems to be a fate of reincarnation. Just as the founders of Teda began to build the best development zone in China on a saline-alkali wasteland in 1984, 24 years later, the Teda people of Tianjin, with pioneering genes in their blood, once again embarked on a pioneering journey in a foreign country thousands of miles away. In July 2008, Egypt TEDA Investment Co., Ltd. officially launched the construction and development of the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone. Since then, more than 20 Egyptian TEDA employees from China have come to this piece of land that has been placed high hopes by the governments of Egypt and China., Cultivating ideals and hopes on the blue Red Sea coast.

In July 2008, with the official launch of the 1.34 square kilometer project in the starting area of the cooperation zone, TEDA people introduced the model "TEDA model" of China's development zone operation into Egypt. The industrial research, functional positioning, overall planning and design of the park, the transformation and upgrading of infrastructure, the construction of production and living facilities, attracting investment, providing services for enterprises entering the zone, etc. The daily work rhythm of the Chinese operation team of TEDA in Egypt is as intense and orderly as a top. Behind the achievements means persistent efforts, and only relying on the strength of more than 20 people to support such a grand cause, the hardships behind it are almost unimaginable for ordinary people. For the entrustment and inner ideals of the Chinese and Egyptian people, TEDA people in Egypt often work from 8:30 in the morning to 5:30 in the evening or even late at night, almost every day for more than 10 hours; when the ground temperature is close to 50 degrees in summer, Shuttle through the construction site, day after day to check the quality of the construction project of the cooperation zone with perfection as the standard. Due to lack of manpower, they set a record for the highest load of three round trips to Cairo a day, driving more than 10 hours in just one day; most of them have experienced significant weight loss due to severe diarrhea due to unacceptable water and soil. This group of young people, most of whom are in their thirties, abandon their wives and children and only take family leave twice a year. Some of them are newly married, and some of their children are only a few months old. An employee who has just been a father for a few months, after seeing the video of the child from the Internet, does not want others to see the tears on his face. Just lock yourself in the house. During a business trip back home, Liu Aimin, general manager of (then) Egypt's TEDA company, went home to visit his relatives. His father had just undergone a retinal surgery failure. The 70-year-old man cried bitterly with his son who had not seen him for two months. Everything is just to build the best economic and trade cooperation zone for Egypt in Africa and even the world. The development of the cooperation zone has not been smooth. The harsh and hard life and the loneliness far away from home have been overcome by TEDA people one by one. What bothers everyone most is the huge differences in the development model and concept of the development zone between China and Egypt, which requires continuous integration and communication between the two sides. This is also the main reason why the negotiation of the six square kilometer project contract in the cooperation zone expansion area took four years and could not be signed. In order to build the most solid bridge for the development of Sino-Egyptian friendship, TEDA of Egypt has never given up the development area project. After the establishment of the new Egyptian government, the head of Egypt's TEDA, who presided over the work in Egypt, visited the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and other government departments to coordinate and communicate. Under the attention of leaders from all walks of life, the contract negotiation work of the SAR 6 square kilometers project was reactivated, and the SAR 6 square kilometers project negotiation team once again began the endless cycle of day and night discussion, review, revision, and re-discussion of the contract revision period. The contract for the 6 square kilometer project of the Sino-Egyptian TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, which lasted 4 years and condensed the hard work of the two generations of China-Africa TEDA and the sweat of more than 10 people, was finally signed on April 27, 2013. Egyptian Prime Minister Gandil went to the cooperation zone to witness the signing ceremony and praised the cooperation zone for truly representing Egypt, and said that the cooperation zone is the place where its "dream begins", the most direct expression of the Egyptian people for TEDA recognition and moved.

On November 30, 2015, the Egyptian TEDA Special Zone Development Company and the Egyptian Suez Bay Northwest Special Economic Zone Development Corporation signed the first phase of the land transfer minutes of the cooperation zone expansion area, and the two square kilometers of the first phase of the cooperation zone expansion area project was officially transferred to the Egyptian TEDA Special Zone Development Company; January 21, 2016, chinese President Xi Jinping, who visited Egypt for the first time, and Egyptian President Sisi attended the launching ceremony of the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone Expansion Zone and jointly awarded the expansion zone.

With the launch of the six square kilometers extension area project, the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone will enter a new stage of development. According to the planning and design, after the completion of the expansion area, it is expected to attract about 100 key enterprises, mainly Chinese-funded enterprises, attracting investment of 22-3.4 billion US dollars, achieving sales of 115-15.5 billion US dollars, and providing 3-40000 employment opportunities. At that time, the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone will not only become an important carrier and platform for Chinese companies to "go global" to open up the Middle East and North Africa and even the global market, but also play a greater role in Egypt's industrial upgrading, export earnings, tax creation and employment.

A brand new legend is becoming a reality in the hands of TEDA people.