STORY: TEDA Egypt: a demonstration project linking Bohai Sea, Red Sea
DATELINE: Aug. 23, 2023
LENGTH: 0:03:32
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): WEI JIANQING, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd.
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): WEI JIANQING, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd.
4. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): WEI JIANQING, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd.
5. SOUNDBITE 4 (English): AHMED SOLIMAN, Deputy general manager of Jushi Egypt
6. SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): WEI JIANQING, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd.
7. SOUNDBITE 6 (English): NAHLA EMAD, CEO of Egypt-TEDA Suez Canal Economic Zone Development Company
8. SOUNDBITE 7 (Arabic): WALEID GAMAL EL-DIEN, Chairman of Egypt's Suez Canal Economic Zone

STORYLINE:

China-Egypt Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (SETC-Zone), located at a former desert by the Red Sea near the Suez Canal, shares geographic similarities with Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area (TEDA) by the Bohai Sea.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): WEI JIANQING, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd. 
"In 1998, the State Council assigned TEDA to undertake the project of constructing an economic development zone in Suez, Egypt. The cooperation zone is also called 'TEDA' by locals. The logo of TEDA Egypt takes the form of a Yimi flower, symbolizing tenacity, faith, and miracles as per Egyptian legend. We aspire to create miracles here."

In 2008, the first-phase construction of the TEDA Egypt kicked off on an area of 1.34 square km.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): WEI JIANQING, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd.
"Since the establishment of the cooperation zone in 2008, we have focused on infrastructure construction and production capacity cooperation. TEDA Egypt has gradually become a demonstration project that aligns the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with the development of the Suez Canal Corridor."

Home to 145 companies, TEDA Egypt has attracted an investment of more than 1.7 billion U.S. dollars.

It has created more than 5,000 direct jobs and 50,000 employment opportunities in related industries.

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): WEI JIANQING, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd.  
"Jushi, a representative enterprise in the TEDA Egypt, is one of the largest Chinese projects in the field of manufacturing in Egypt. At present, the project's investment has exceeded 900 million U.S. dollars, with an annual production capacity of 340,000 tons. As the largest fiberglass production base in Africa, it not only fills the gap in the fiberglass manufacturing industry in the entire Middle East and North Africa, but also makes Egypt the world's fiberglass giant manufacturer."

SOUNDBITE 4 (English): AHMED SOLIMAN, Deputy general manager of Jushi Egypt
"We can say by the end of 2022, our dream became reality as we started to operate the new line 305, so our production capacity reached the maximum of 360,000 tons per year. And by this way, Egypt has become the fourth production unit in the world for the production of fiberglass. And by this way, we have good benefits for the economic sides of Egypt, and we have good opportunities for our Egyptian staff to join the company."

The cooperation zone has attracted many Chinese-funded enterprises as well as enterprises from Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Canada and other countries.

The first-phase construction (1.34 km2) has been completed.

In the second phase (6 km2), some 40 companies have settled here.

SOUNDBITE 5 (Chinese): WEI JIANQING, Deputy General Manager, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd.
"TEDA Egypt is continuously upgrading from "industrial cluster" to "industry-business collaboration" center. Since 2021, it has successfully promoted the official operation of the first Chinese-funded TEDA-Royal Bonded Warehouse project in Egypt. Besides, it has focused on building an international commodity distribution center, and an automobile and accessories distribution center."

On July 12, 2023, TEDA Egypt celebrated its 15th anniversary and unveiled its 2030 Vision-Strategic Upgrade Plan.

SOUNDBITE 6 (English): NAHLA EMAD, CEO of Egypt-TEDA Suez Canal Economic Zone Development Company
"We have been to China before having a good training to see the experience on reality in Tianjin TEDA. Then we began to transfer the experience from China to Egypt. My coach here in the company is a very professional one. He taught me a lot. But step by step, we have already received the full knowledge and full information about how to do this improvement, so I become a good expert on how to develop and improve industry zones."

90 percent of employees in TEDA Egypt are locals, and around 20 percent of them are women.

SOUNDBITE 7 (Arabic): WALEID GAMAL EL-DIEN, Chairman of Egypt's Suez Canal Economic Zone  
"The Suez Canal plays a significant role in the success of the BRI. I am confident that TEDA can attract investment from many sectors to Egypt, such as the pharmaceutical industry, automobiles, petrochemicals, and green hydrogen."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)