Egypt, UAE, Jordan + Bahrain sign agreements for USD 2 bn worth of industrial projects: Egypt, the UAE, Jordan and Bahrain signed agreements to establish nine joint industrial projects at an investment cost of USD 2 bn, the Egyptian Trade Ministry said yesterday. The four countries inked 12 agreements in Jordan yesterday for the projects, which span sectors including agriculture, electric vehicles, minerals, pharma, and petrochemicals.

This is part of the regional industrial partnership set up last year: The agreements were signed at the end of a two-day meeting in Amman to discuss the USD 10 bn industrial partnership established in 2022. Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ is contributing USD 10 bn to the initiative, which will channel finance into large-scale industrial projects in the four countries to bolster regional supply chains.

We’re expecting even more: The four countries last year said they had identified USD 3.4 bn-worth of joint investment projects for the first phase of the partnership.

THE AGREEMENTS THAT INVOLVE US–

#1- Emirati fertilizer company CFC Group signed MoUs to lock in raw materials for its USD 400 mn industrial complex in Qena Governorate. Jordan’s Arab Potash Company will supply the complex with potash, while Misr Phosphate will supply it with phosphates. The project, which was first announced last year, has since obtained a golden license from the government and has been allocated a plot.

Construction on the project will start in July, the ministry said. The complex is set to produce up to 500k tons of fertilizers, 500k tons of animal feed and 1.1k tons of phosphoric acid each year. CFC will also establish a school for applied science near the complex, which is set to start operations during the upcoming academic year.

#2- The Egyptian Soda Chemical Industries Company will invest USD 500 mn to produce 500k tons per year of sodium carbonate — a raw material used in glass and detergent production. The company inked an MoU with the Emirates Float Glass to buy the sodium carbonate.

#3- Emirates’ M Glory Holding has earmarked USD 550 mn to establish three EV factories with production and assembly lines in the UAE, Egypt, and Jordan. The factories are set to produce 40k vehicles in total during their first three years of operations. M Glory inked MoUs with the Egyptian military’s Arab Organization for Industrialization and the Jordan Design and Development Bureau (JODDB) to act as its partners and an agreement with Bahrain’s Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mill (GARMCO) to supply aluminum sheets for the cars.

#4- The UAE’s Global Pharma inked a technology transfer partnership with Egypt’s Nerhadou to develop their meds and nutritional supplements manufacturing tech in the UAE. Global Pharma also inked an agreement with Jordan’s Savvy Pharma for research and development. The two agreements are together worth USD 60 mn in investment.

ALSO IN MEDS PRODUCTION-

• Egypt’s BioGeneric Pharma inked a technology transfer agreement with Bahraini firm Gulf Biotech to help it set up a USD 103 mn vaccines factory that is set to produce 105 mn doses a year.
• Local firm Marcyrl Pharma signed an agreement to transfer its biosimilars manufacturing tech to Jordanian firm Itqan Pharma.