CAIRO, Mar 16 (NNN-MENA) – China’s home appliance giant, Haier, held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday, for its first Egyptian factory, aiming to boost the manufacturing industry and provide local jobs in the country.
Haier Egypt Ecological Park, invested by Haier Group’s subsidiary, Haier Smart Home, with a total of 160 million U.S. dollars, will cover an area of 200,000 square metres, in the 10th of Ramadan City of north-eastern Sharqia Province.
Speaking at the ceremony, Hossam Heiba, the CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones of Egypt, hailed the strong economic ties between Egypt and China, saying that, the Egyptian government attaches great importance to the cooperation with China, and is ready to attract more Chinese investment, especially in technology and engineering industries, as well as, home appliances, which will help the Egyptian economy to move up the value chain.
Haier Egypt Ecological Park is an important project, as it will facilitate the transfer of home appliance manufacturing technology and create about 2,000 jobs in Egypt, Heiba said.
Zhou Zhencheng, the minister counsellor of the economic and commercial office, at the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, said, the implementation of this project will lead more enterprises to invest and set up factories in Egypt, help to upgrade the local upstream and downstream segments of home appliance manufacturing, and increase the inflow of foreign currency for the country.
The first phase of the project, which will be put into operation in the first half of 2024, focuses on the production of air conditioners, washing machines and TVs, and the second phase will produce refrigerators and freezers.
Li Huagang, chairman and president of Haier Smart Home, said, Haier Egypt Ecological Park aims to become a regional home appliance manufacturing base, which can provide products for markets in the Middle East, North Africa, as well as, Eastern and Southern Africa.
Haier Egypt Ecological Park is also committed to the development of smart manufacturing industries, so as to provide Egyptian consumers with better experiences and help upgrade the industrial chain of Egyptian home appliances, Li added.– NNN-MENA
