Chinese company to secure $20bn Egypt deal

Chinese company to secure $20bn Egypt deal

CFLD hopes to finalise the $20bn deal by year-end 

by Jumana Abdel-Razzaq on Oct 30, 2016 

China Fortune Land Development Company (CFLD) expects to finalise its $20bn deal to develop part of Egypt's new capital by the end of 2016.

The project, which is expected to break ground early next year, is likely to include factories, shopping malls, hospitals and universities in an area covering 70sqk of the 750sqk area in what will become Egypt’s new administrative capital, according to Reuters.

Hisham Sheta, chairman of Income, a partner in the project, said: “There's a slowdown in the Chinese economy, and the government has been pushing, especially industrial cash-rich companies, to go outside China to keep up with the growth they used to have.”

"The company took a board decision in August to make Egypt one of its strategic investments in the next ten years,” he added.

CFLD has pledged to invest $20bn over ten years, though the master plan has yet to be finalised.

This follows another agreement by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation which secured a $3bn loan earlier this year to build government facilities for the city.

The developer expects the project to generate 25,000 new jobs in the first 18 months, when it plans to invest $5bn, and 300,000 jobs over its ten-year lifespan.

Officials say Egypt’s new capital will create a solution to overcrowding, pollution and rising house prices currently Cairo.

The deal is one of several as investment between the two countries is expected to reach $15bn in 2016, Chinese leader Xi Jinping said earlier this year.

constructionweekonline.com

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