The need to see the truth of the common fight against the epidemic: to jointly build a demonstration platform for economic and trade cooperation between Egypt and China.

The need to see the truth of the common fight against the epidemic: to jointly build a demonstration platform for economic and trade cooperation between Egypt and China.
Source: People's Daily, May 13, 2020-03

Reporter: Zhou/Qu Xiangyu

Local employees of Xidian Egypt are assembling the 500 kV high voltage switch control unit.

Starting from the old city of Cairo, the capital of Egypt, it took more than two hours to drive to the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (referred to as the cooperation zone) on the shore of the Red Sea and on the banks of the Suez Canal. This is an important platform for China-Egypt production capacity cooperation and a landmark project for the two countries to jointly build the "Belt and Road.

The cooperation area is divided into a starting area and an expansion area. At present, all the construction and development of the starting area have been completed, and the first phase of the expansion area has been officially transferred and infrastructure construction has been completed. During the epidemic, the cooperation zone to attract investment "do not drop the line", in the prevention and control of the epidemic at the same time, to "do not meet" investment, to promote the intention of project negotiations, contract services, and a number of enterprises in China and Egypt signed a cooperation agreement.

"Learn from China's epidemic prevention experience to ensure normal production"

Responsible for the procurement of epidemic prevention materials, tracking the changes in the epidemic situation in Egypt, and paying attention to the health status of employees in the park... Amina has been very busy recently. She is the manager of the human resources department of the management committee of the cooperation zone, "Chinese enterprises attach great importance to the prevention and control of the epidemic and have taken a series of strict measures. We draw on China's experience in epidemic prevention to ensure normal production."

Jushi Egypt Glass Fiber Co., Ltd. (Jushi Egypt for short) has an annual output of 200000 tons of glass fiber, making Egypt the third largest glass fiber producer in the world and achieving high export earnings.

After body temperature testing, disinfection of items, the reporter entered the boulder Egypt's production workshop. In the workshop, every worker wears a mask to keep a safe distance and work in an orderly manner. "We have formulated an emergency response plan for epidemic prevention and control, trained employees in epidemic prevention, and prepared sufficient epidemic prevention and living materials." Wang Jianfei, assistant general manager of Jushi Egypt, said that 98% of the company's nearly 2000 employees are recruited locally, and ensuring the health of employees is the top priority of the company's current work.

"When the Egyptian Ministry of Health Committee and his party came to the cooperation zone for inspection, they highly affirmed our epidemic prevention work." Liu Aimin, head of the cooperation zone, said that at the beginning of the epidemic, the cooperation zone quickly formulated a prevention and control plan and, together with the settled enterprises, adopted measures such as uploading and distributing information, strengthening material supply, strengthening personnel training and management, implementing daily inspection of killing and killing, and strengthening joint prevention and control.

"Thanks to Chinese technology for its contribution to the construction of Egypt's power grid"

"In the past, this kind of power transmission and transformation equipment was imported from Europe. After the establishment of the company, the technology and products representing the world's leading level landed in Egypt to realize localized production." Ashraf Mustafa, a local employee, is debugging equipment in the workshop of China-Egypt joint venture Xidian-EGEMAC High Voltage Electric Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Xidian Egypt). The company is a joint venture between China XD Electric Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China XD Group, and EGEMAC of Egypt. It produces high-voltage switches, power transformers and other power transmission and transformation equipment for the Middle East and North Africa markets such as Egypt. It is currently the only company in the Middle East and North Africa that can manufacture 500 kV ultra-high voltage power transformers and high-voltage switchgear.
"Chinese enterprises attach great importance to the localization of talents, provide systematic education and training for Egyptian employees, and send employees to China for further study." Ashraf is a local college student who came out of the countryside. When he first entered the power industry, he was very uncomfortable with the new working environment and unfamiliar fields. Under the guidance of Chinese masters, Ashraf has grown into a technical backbone step by step, starting with relevant knowledge of power safety, basic knowledge of electricians, and rules of the power supply industry. He is now the minister of production and manufacturing of Xidian Egypt. "The skills I learned from Chinese masters have allowed me to grow rapidly, and I have been sent to China three times for training and internships. Now, I am also willing to pass on the knowledge and experience I have learned to more colleagues."

It is reported that Egyptian employees account for more than 90% of the company. At present, XD Egypt has undertaken and participated in the completion of 18 substation complete sets of projects, providing 66 kV to 500 kV power transformers, high-voltage switches, lightning arresters and other power transmission and transformation equipment for more than 20 substations. Last year, the company achieved sales revenue of more than 1.5 billion Egyptian pounds (1 Egyptian pound is about 0.45 yuan).

"Working together with Chinese colleagues, we will jointly contribute to Egypt's economic and social development." From the first few employees to more than 200 Chinese and Egyptian colleagues today, Ashraf lamented, "Thank you for the contribution of Chinese technology to the construction of Egypt's power grid. Whenever the company completes a project, I am proud to tell my friends and family that there is a share of my sweat and hard work here."

"Welcome more Chinese enterprises to come to discuss cooperation"

In the bustling streets of Cairo, young people on "Universiade" motorcycles drive by from time to time. Previously, Egyptian dealers mainly imported "Universiade" motorcycles from China for sale, but now the Universiade Group has opened its branch to Egypt. Dayun Egypt is the first enterprise to enter the expansion zone of the cooperation zone, engaged in the research and development, manufacturing, sales and service of motorcycles, electric vehicles and commercial vehicles.

"Entering the cooperation zone can not only promote the local economic development of Egypt, but also help Chinese enterprises to enter the international market. Both sides can achieve mutual benefit and win-win cooperation." According to Shan Feng, head of Universiade Egypt, Egypt's geographical location radiates to other countries in the Middle East and Africa, with relatively low transportation costs and more favorable market reaction time. Since July 2019, the company has recruited more than 200 local employees to conduct business training and start production. It is expected that more than 200 local jobs will be created when the products are sold.

"The cooperation zone has been playing a leading role in the construction and development of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, and is complementary to a series of major projects around it, making important contributions to the overall development of the Suez Canal Corridor Economic Belt. Chinese enterprises play an important role in it." Egypt's Suez Canal Economic Zone Chairman Zaki said.

The port of Ain Sukhna next to the cooperation zone, about 40 kilometers from the southern entrance of the Suez Canal, is an important transit point for shipping on the Nile and the Red Sea. China Harbour won the bid for the port's second container terminal project in February 2018. During the epidemic, the project epidemic prevention construction is not wrong, has been basically completed and achieved port. The coastline of the project is 1350 meters long, and the water depth will reach 17 meters after completion, with a maximum capacity of 200000 tons of cargo ships.

It is reported that as of the end of 2019, the cooperation zone has attracted 85 companies to settle in, with actual investment exceeding US $1 billion, cumulative sales exceeding US $1.7 billion, and taxes and fees paid to the host country exceeding US $0.1 billion, directly solving about 4000 jobs and driving 40000 jobs. Liu Aimin said that in the future, with the entry of more and more enterprises, the cooperation zone will form an industrial "park in the park" mode with four leading industries, namely, passenger car plate, textile plate, building materials plate and chemical plate.

"We will provide more investment convenience in policies and other aspects, and welcome more Chinese companies to discuss cooperation." Zaki said that with the in-depth docking of Egypt's "Suez Canal Corridor Development" development strategy and the joint construction of "Belt and Road Initiative", the path of collaborative development between Egypt and China has been continuously broadened, and the dynamic cooperation zone has become an important platform for promoting cooperation in production capacity and other fields between the two countries. "We are happy to see more and more enterprises of the two countries settle in the cooperation zone, carry out more cooperation under the framework of the joint construction of the'Belt and Road', and jointly build a demonstration platform for Egypt-China economic and trade cooperation."