Egypt could see locally assembled Russian vehicles: Russia is keen to expand its manufacturing partnerships with Egypt, especially when it comes to vehicle assembly, Russian Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov said during a meeting with counterpart Nevine Gamea in Moscow last week, the Trade Ministry said in a statement, which provided no further details.

Gamea also held meetings with reps of Russian companies to discuss investments in Egypt, including the head of Russia-based genomics company Helix to discuss potential cooperation in water treatment, waste recycling and air purification projects, and Rosatom’s regional VP Alexander Voronkov.

BACKGROUND: The Suez Canal Economic Zone had received a request from Russia in early June to establish a new industrial zone in Ain Sokhna. Meanwhile, work on Russia’s USD 7 bn Russian Industrial Zone (RIZ) should begin soon, with the zone expected to be up and running in 2022.

Egypt has plans to become an auto assembly hub: The first 100 locally-assembled electric vehicles under a partnership between El Nasr Automotive and China’s Dongfeng should be ready by July-August 2022, before hitting the road starting September of the same, Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik said earlier this month. Mitsubishi and Mercedes-Benz have also announced plans to begin locally assembling select passenger car models.