The Egyptian cabinet determined which projects would be offered to the Chinese side during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Cairo next month, including electricity-generating projects, and a railway and train carriages.
According to the cabinet’s statement on Sunday, the suggested projects also included projects related to the transportation sector, namely an electric train for passengers to linkthe cities of 10th of Ramadan and El-Salam. Another electric train will be built to transfer goods between the cities of Bilbeis and Roubiky. In Alexandria, the cabinet intends to build an electric train linking Alexandria and Abu Qir.
The projects also include developing Alexandria Port’s piers and manufacturing new train carriages. As for the electricity and renewable energy sector, the cabinet pointed to bilateral projects in electricity storage and building two electricity plants.
According to the statement, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail met with the ministerial commission that is preparing for Jinping’s upcoming visit. The commission includes the ministries of Housing, Electricity, Investment, Agriculture, Trade and Industry, Transportation, International Cooperation, Higher Education, and Culture and the chairperson of General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
Cabinet spokesperson Hossam Qawish said the government will discuss with China their contribution in projects in the housing and development sector related to sewage services in Egyptian villages. They also include construction projects in the new Administration Capital as well as a number of development projects in the Suez Canal region.
As for the trade and industry sector, the suggested projects also include the establishment of an industrial zone for leather in Roubiky. In the agriculture and land reclamation sector, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was offered to China in the field of agricultural research and the establishment of a training centre to fight desertification.
Another centre for research on agriculture mechanism will be offered to support the 1.5m acres project that the government is currently reclaiming as well as a centre for recycling agricultural wastes and the production of organic fertilisers.
As for the high education sector, the establishment of a Chinese university has been put forward and a joint institute of technology. In the culture sector, there are arrangements to celebrate the year of Chinese culture in Egypt, marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
They also discussed a proposed framework for an agreement for bilateral cooperation in the field of space and satellite and discussed ways to overcome the challenges facing the Chinese investments in Egypt and to work on increasing them.