The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZONE) announced on 3 April that it has been recognised by the Global Alliance of Special Economic Zones (GASEZ) as a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Model Zone Partner.
SCZONE is among the 50 top partners out of 7000 economic zones that GASEZ represents.
The selection was made according to the guidelines set during the World Investment Forum of the United Nations Trade Conference UNCTAD in October 2023 in the UAE, and the second GASEZ Annual Conference held in November 2023 in Barcelona.
The top 50 partners were selected according to a number of criteria including commitment to sustainable development, encouragement of investment within the scope of the goals of sustainable development and respecting social, environmental, and administrative guidelines.
SCZONE said it considers this recognition to be an acknowledgement of its efforts, and the seed for further cooperation with GASEZ.
Waleid Gamal Eldien, Chairman of SCZONE expressed his happiness and pride for Egypt’s SCZONE to be represented in GASEZ, and for the international recognition. He said that since its inception, SCZONE has observed environmentally friendly systems, and that it has gone a long way in the field of green fuel production for supply of ships. SCZONE, its Chairman said, was able to contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions in the industrial and naval sectors.
GASEZ was launched in 2022 through the cooperation of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) with seven global, regional and national associations representing more than 7,000 special economic zones. It aims at uplifting special economic zones around the world and maximising their contribution to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The Suez Canal Economic Zone was the only representative of Egypt on the 2023-2024 list of nominations for model areas for the Sustainable Development Goals.
The core functions of GASEZ include facilitating cross-border and cross-industry collaboration between Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in trade and investment promotion for sustainable development; collective policy advocacy for sound enabling frameworks for SEZs at the national, regional and global levels; promoting awareness of the contributions of SEZs to sustainable development; peer learning through the exchange of experiences, best practices and lessons learned among SEZs; and undertaking joint technical cooperation programmes for modernising SEZs and promoting SDG model zones.
The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) was born in August 2015, in tandem with the inauguration of the New Suez Canal, a USD8.6 billion upgrade that for the first time allowed two-way maritime traffic in the 193km-long waterway. The SCZone is an innovative and self-sustaining industrial development corridor that has transformed 461 square kilometres and six maritime ports along its path into an international commercial hub connecting 1.6 billion consumers in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Gulf with Egypt’s growing market of more than 100 million people.
The zone provided Egyptian and foreign investors with top-class infrastructure, market access and streamlined administrative procedures. The regional strategy of the SCZone entails the development of lands, facilities and ports adjacent to and in the proximity of the Canal in four industrial zones: Ain Sokhna, East Port Said, Ismailiya and Qantara West. The six SCZone ports are: West Port Said Port, East Port Said Port, al-Arish Port, al-Adabiya Port, Sokhna Port, and al-Tor Port.
Among the industries targeted by SCZone and already in operation are: green hydrogen and green ammonia, solar panels, pharmaceuticals, agribusiness, textiles, building materials, automotive industries, petrochemicals, bunkering services, logistics, and data centres.
Noteworthy is that the SCZone has during the span of time from January to March 2024, signed 37 contracts for various projects, at an investment cost of some USD894 million.
Watani International
8 April 2024