INVESTMENT WATCH- China’s Sinoma International Engineering is looking to invest USD 100 mn in a new steel factory in Egypt, Chairman Zhijiang Liu told Investment Minister Sahar Nasr, according to a ministry statement. The plant is expected to produce around 2 mn tonnes per annum of steel, he said without elaborating.

But what of other Chinese investments? The announcement comes as Nasr met with a number of Chinese company executives and state officials in Cairo on Thursday, including representatives from China Fortune Land Development (CFLD). The company is currently ironing out the final details of its contract to develop 15k feddans at the new administrative capital. The companies, which were unnamed, all expressed interest in pumping new investments into Egypt in the coming period in light of recent reforms and incentives offered under the Investment Act, according to the statement. Let’s hope these don’t end up bogged down like CFLD or fall by the wayside in a manner similar to the zombie projects signed with the Chinese at the Egyptian Economic Development Conference.

On a related note, Egypt is expected to participate in the 2018 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which will be held in Beijing this September, according to the Investment Ministry. Members of the Egyptian-Chinese Business Council met with Nasr last week to discuss ways to attract more Chinese investment to Egypt, pointing to irrigation, grain storage, and textile manufacturing as fields where collaboration with Beijing would be particularly helpful.