China Eximbank and CDB provide credit facility for TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#440)

On May 19, 2000, the Chinese Government and the Government of Egypt announced a plan to jointly construct the China-Egypt Suez TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (中埃·泰达苏伊士经贸合作区), with implementation planned to begin on June 1, 2000, adjacent to the Port of Ain Sukhna (العين السخنة‎), about 45 km southeast of Suez City in Section 3 of the North-West Suez Economic Area. The park was initially developed by the Suez International Cooperation Co. a subsidiary owned 100% by the TEDA Investment Group. The Egypt‐Chinese Corporation for Investment (ECCI) — made up of TEDA, Arab Contractors Co., National Bank of Egypt, National Investment Bank, and the Suez Canal Authority — initially planned to invest in the project, but instead sold its plot in Section 3 to the Suez International Cooperation Co. The park was planned to be completed by the end of 2000, but infrastructure and some companies were not established in the park by April 2003. Multiple Chinese and Egyptian sources cite back and forth negotiations and misunderstandings as delaying the initial stages of the industrial park's construction. The park was developed for SMEs on an original 1.34 km^2 parcel of land, and based on the successful model of the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development (TEDA) Zone in China. The park's products were intended to serve the Egyptian market and serve as exports to European, Middle Eastern, and Chinese markets. In July 2008, Teda Investment Holding Co., Ltd. (holding a 75% equity stake), TEDA Suez International Cooperation Co., Ltd. (holding a 5% equity stake) and the Egypt-China Joint Venture Company (holding a 20% equity stake) jointly established Egypt TEDA Investment Co., Ltd., with a registered capital of $800 million. Then, in October 2008, the China‐Africa Development Fund (Owned by China Development Bank) and TEDA Investment Holdings (owned by the Tianjin Government State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission) established the China-Africa TEDA Investment Co. Ltd, with 60% of shares owned by TEDA Investment Holdings and 40% of shares owned by the China‐Africa Development Fund. The newly established China-Africa TEDA Investment Co. Ltd then bought a 75% ownership stake in Teda Investment Holding Co., Ltd. Following this acquisition, China-Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd., became the main operator of the Suez TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone, undertaking development, construction, management, and investment facilitation for the zone. On November 7, 2009, a delegation led by the Vice Mayor of Tianjin, Ren Xufeng, held a signing ceremony for the ‘Strategic Cooperation Memorandum of China Export-Import Bank Beijing Branch and China-Africa TEDA Investment Company’, and announced that China Eximbank planned to arrange an RMB 6 billion credit facility to support construction of the China-Egypt Suez TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (中埃·泰达苏伊士经贸合作区) (further documented in Project ID#440). Publications by China Eximbank and China Development Bank in September 2018 include references to each bank being involved in financing the construction of the TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone. CDB reportedly provided a $40 million loan for the initial construction of the TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in 2011 and an additional $50 million loan for an expansion of the TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone in 2015. However, apart from China Eximbank’s initial plan to arrange a 6 billion RMB credit facility, the face value of its loan commitment(s) is unknown. Occupying an area of 7.34 square kilometers, the project’s first phase includes a starting area and expansion area. The starting area covers 1.34 square kilometers. The expansion area covers 6 square kilometers. Phase II covers 2 square kilometers, which were transferred in April 2019. On November 11, 2009, Egyptian and Chinese officials presided over the official inauguration of the zone. In Phase I of the expansion zone, main roads for an area of 2 square kilometers were equipped with street lights powered by wind and solar power. Then, on January 21, 2016, Xi Jinping and President Sisi attended the opening ceremony of six square km expansion area of the TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone. Xi said at the ceremony that the project would bring over 100 textile, garment, oil equipment, motorcycle and solar energy companies to Egypt, and create more than 10,000 local jobs. This expansion project (also known as Phase 2) was completed in April 2019. By the end of 2020, the TEDA Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone had reportedly attracted 96 enterprises and $1.25 billion investment dollars, generated more than $2.5 billion of sales, and created more than 4,000 jobs.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic Trade Cooperation Zone and the TEDA Cooperation Zone. The Chinese project title is 有中埃泰达经贸合作区 or 泰达合作区. 2. Over 10 years, TEDA Suez held 24 rounds of negotiations with the Egyptian side and worked on to settle 33 items with different stands only for the expansion zone project. In this process, there were differences on development concept and management approach etc. At the beginning, TEDA Suez planned to exactly ‘copy’ the pattern of TEDA industrial park in Tianjin, China, create an environment of investment similar to that of developed countries, and build a quasi-authentic international industrial park, but found that this plan deviated from the vision of the Egyptian side.

Number of official sources

13

Number of total sources

23