Road to prosperity

Egypt has positioned itself to benefit greatly from China's Belt and Road Initiative

Closer relations between China and Egypt - underlined by President Xi Jinping's visit to Cairo - have raised hopes that additional Chinese investment will help create more jobs with the opening of the country's new wonder, the New Suez Canal.

The $8.2 billion project has added a new channel to allow ships to move in both directions simultaneously, and expanded an existing sector. Daily capacity rose from 49 to 97 ships, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

This is seen as a key part of the country's strategic development plan, one that pairs well with China's Belt and Road Initiative, a plan based conceptually on ancient Silk Road trading routes that aims at infrastructure, investment, and connections between manufacturers and markets in Asia, Africa, Europe and beyond. Beijing hopes to strengthen connections of some 65 countries to China.

Xi was scheduled to be in Egypt from Jan 20 to 22 as part of a three-nation Middle East tour, also including Saudi Arabia and Iran. In Egypt, Xi's itinerary includes meetings with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi and Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Araby. President Xi is expected to deliver a speech at the headquarters of the League of Arab States and attend events to celebrate 60th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties during his three-day visit in Egypt, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Egypt's former ambassador to China, Mahmoud Allam, says the initiative and the improved canal will reinforce each other. "The two projects will be a new way to promote the level of coordinated development of China with Egypt and the world to an unprecedented new height.

"The Belt and Road Initiative and the New Suez Canal will link Chinese civilization and Arab civilization again, and become the foundation of China-Arab relations and international relations," he says.

He Wenping, a professor affiliated with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says this demonstrates Egypt's willingness to work closely with China under a new international environment.

She says Egypt is a key country in the Silk Road plan, and also has an influential role in North Africa and the Middle East.

"It's an anchor country in these regions, so its stability and development is vital," she says. "One of the main purposes of the new Silk Road plan is to enhance industrial collaboration among various countries, and it's quite clear Egypt has the ambition and foundation to achieve this with China."

She says aside from the benefits of special economic zones, Egypt offers Chinese manufacturers many benefits.

"All products made in Egypt enjoy tax and other policy privileges provided by the country's multiple international and regional organization memberships, like the African Union and League of Arab States," she adds.

Aiman Othman, Egyptian commercial councilor in China, says the canal project is only the first phase of Egypt's Suez Canal Corridor Development Project, an ambitious effort to turn the 160 kilometer canal into a world economic hub.

"This national project consists of about 100 mega projects that are ready for investment, such as constructing tunnels underneath the canal, building new ports, airports, the new technology valley, new cities, tourist villages, new roads and shipyards for manufacturing and repairing ships, land reclamation and fish farms, and establishing industrial parks and maritime logistic enterprises," he says.

"The Suez Canal Corridor is underpinning industrial growth, which includes an unprecedented investment in Egypt's energy capacity. Since July 2014, Egypt has added 3.6 gigawatts of new power capacity as part of a plan to increase Egypt's power capacity by 50 percent in the coming years."

He says the expansion of the canal will also act as a vital engine of economic activity in the area to push Egypt's economy toward sustainable growth by utilizing available natural resources and the potential of the Egyptian economy, such as its geographic position, which plays a prominent role in the movement of world trade between East and West.

Egypt also should benefit from being in a time zone that straddles the range of working hours in Europe and the Americas on the one hand and Asia on the other, says Othman. "This will also help attract more global companies and foreign investment to support the Egyptian economy's growth in the fields of transportation and logistics, in order to benefit from the time difference between East and West."

The Belt and Road Initiative also is expected to inject new life into Egypt's tourism sector.

The tourism industry in Egypt employs 3.5 million people, 1.8 million directly and the rest indirectly, according to the Egyptian Tourism Authority.

Mostafa Adel, a 24-year-old tour guide who uses the Chinese name Meng Fei, says while many young men lost jobs in the wake of instability in 2011, he considers himself lucky. Adel says he is grateful to have studied Mandarin with the help of local China cultural center under the Chinese embassy, which helped him become a tour guide for Chinese tourists half a year ago.

Agreements between Egypt and China in improving visa processes and increasing air travel also are expected to boost tourism, according to Egyptian officials.

Egyptian ambassador to China Magdy Amir says it is estimated that 200,000 Chinese visitors had been to Egypt by the end of 2015.

High hopes hinge on this year's 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"We will see the two countries interact in a wide range of exchanges and cooperation on culture and art this year. We hope it will be a boost for the influx of Chinese tourists," Amir says.

"We plan to maintain (tourism) growth of about 20 percent every year. Of course, in order to achieve this goal, a lot of things still need to be done. In Egypt, for example, we have plans to build more good tourism facilities, open more Chinese restaurants and create a better environment to attract more Chinese tourists."

Tourism counselor Abo Maaty Shaarawy says in addition to direct flights to Egypt from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, there will be charter flights linking the country with Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengdu during the Spring Festival holiday this year.

The Egyptian embassy in China is confident about tourism. "By 2020, we hope to attract at least 1 million Chinese tourists a year," press counselor Hoda Jadalla says.

lilianxing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 01/22/2016 page1)