RIYADH: The Suez Canal Economic Zone has attracted $6.3 billion in new investments across 155 projects over the past 14 months, while reporting record revenues of 11.6 billion Egyptian pounds ($237 million) for the 2024-25 fiscal year — up 38 percent year on year.
At its second board meeting of the fiscal year, held in Egypt’s new administrative capital, the authority approved its final accounts, showing net profits of 8.6 billion pounds, a 51 percent increase on the previous year and nearly triple budget expectations. Expenditure stood at 2 billion pounds.
SCZONE Chairman Walid Gamal El-Din emphasized that the zone’s performance came despite a 54 percent decline in Suez Canal transit revenues caused by reduced shipping traffic in the Red Sea.
He noted that growth was supported by contracts worth $8.6 billion covering 297 industrial, service, and port projects.
During the 2024-25 fiscal year, the authority finalized 129 projects valued at $4.4 billion, generating over 31,000 direct jobs. From July through mid-September of the current fiscal year, an additional 26 industrial and logistics contracts were signed in Sokhna and Qantara West with a combined value of $1.85 billion, expected to create 21,800 jobs.
Since mid-2022, SCZONE has secured a total of 334 projects worth $10.4 billion. Of these, 323 projects are located in industrial zones, accounting for $8.9 billion in investment and nearly 100,000 planned jobs, while 11 projects in the seaports represent $1.5 billion. The investment portfolio spans sectors including solar panels, tires, garments, metals, logistics, and recycled materials.
Qantara West has emerged as a key growth hub, now hosting 40 projects worth $1.05 billion and projected to create 55,900 jobs. For the first time, projects have also been launched in Ismailia East’s Technology Valley in Sinai.
The board also endorsed five new projects totaling $155 million in investment across 441,000 sq. meters, expected to generate 5,100 jobs. Four will be located in Qantara West, including ventures from Chinese and Pakistani firms in textiles and garments, along with a facility for recycled PVC flooring and wall panels. The fifth, led by Egyptian-Turkish joint venture SIGMA EGYPT, will establish bonded container yards in Qantara West and Sokhna.
Source: www.arabnews.com