Abou El-Enein: Chinese investments in Egypt reached $8 billion
Basant Ahmed
Parliament Deputy Speaker MP Mohamed Abou El-Enein, emphasized that the Middle East represents the future of global investment, pointing out to its unique geographic location and promising economic potential.
He noted that Egypt welcomes Chinese companies and opens its doors to future industries.
During Abou El-Enein's speech at Sixth QINGDAO Multinationals Summit in China, Abou El-Enein said that Egypt has established specialized industrial cities that have implemented more than 200 development projects.
He also said that Egypt hosts Chinese investments estimated at $8 billion, and includes 3,000 Chinese factories and universities. He emphasized that Cairo is ready to receive more investors.
Moreover, he added that Egypt represents the Middle East and Africa's gateway to Europe, offering a duty-free industrial zone just an hour from the European continent and providing access to a regional market of approximately 2 billion people.
The Parliament deputy speaker also criticized US customs restrictions on Chinese products, noting that Arab countries represent a privileged outlet for Chinese exports, with a customs exemption rate of up to 10%.
He called for strengthening industrial partnerships with countries in the region.
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On one level, the Arab states condemned in the 'strongest terms' the 'blatant' aggression against 'brotherly' Iran, in the words of Saudi Arabia and the UAE's respective statements on 13 June. Egypt's similarly alarmed condemnation slammed Israel's attack as 'unjustified' and warned of 'unprecedented repercussions' on the security and stability of the Middle East. Privately, hushed conversations within Arab intellectual circles saw elevated levels of anxiety, canvassing the region for Israel's 'next' target. This time it was not a single country, unlocking a level of paranoia rooted in the violent events of the past 20 months. Who's-next lists included Lebanon, Turkey, Algeria, and even Egypt, mostly in that order. Contrary to the strongly worded official statements of frustration with Israel's unprovoked aggression against Iran, a Western narrative proclaiming private Arab state support for both the attack on Tehran and regime change prevailed in the mainstream US media and in statements by US officials. In the same vein US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told the Israeli newspaper the Jerusalem Post this week that the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites have 'dramatically' improved the chances of a Saudi-Israeli normalisation deal. While normalisation and its benefits were never off the table for Riyadh despite the continued war on Gaza, Israel's expansionist policy and unchecked regional militarism echoing Netanyahu's ambitions for a leadership role in the Middle East are now posing new challenges to its Arab neighbours. For the Gulf and other Arab states whose normalization policies with Israel served their political interests and enhanced relations with Washington, the prospect of Israeli regional hegemony is cause for new found concern. 'Israel has been betting on very risky moves in the past year and a half concerning its typical adversaries, mostly non state actors, which paid off so they thought they could continue the job with Iran,' Badr Al-Saif a history professor at Kuwait University and non-resident fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington. Netanyahu's project to establish an Israeli led regional order 'is something that we do not want or project in the Gulf region,' he said in an interview. Iran has been a difficult neighbour, Al-Saif argued, but it is not in the Gulf's national interest to see Israeli or US instigated regime change next door. 'This is destabilizing for to us. 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