Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mameish and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem signed an initial partnership agreement in the UAE to establish a major development company for the development of Ain Sokhna, Al-Ahram daily reported.
The partnership was first announced in August following talks between Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayen and Mamish.
The Suez Canal project includes the development of a 460 square-kilometer economic zone around the canal that the government says will be develop as an international industrial and logistics hub that will attract ships and generate foreign investment.
In a statement, Mamish said that the partnership provides for the development of 95 kilometers in Ain Sokhna to include an industrial zone on an area of 75 kilometers and a residential area of 20 kilometers, which will accommodate about 650,000 people.
The partnership is set to be 51 percent for the Suez Canal Authority and 49 percent for Dubai Ports Group. It was founded in 2015 to administer and manage the development project, while the other 49 per cent will be owned by DP World. The contract stipulates that 90 percent of the workforce should be Egyptian.