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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 27 May - 2 June 1999 Issue No. 431
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Profile Living Features Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Iron works in Aswan
PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak resumed his visits this week to a number of industrial and infrastructure projects in the south of the country to promote the national economy and capitalise on available natural resources, reports Nevine Khalil. In Aswan on Saturday, Mubarak inspected a desert area rich in iron ore, where an iron and steel complex will be constructed at a cost of LE2.3 billion (just over $675 million). Mubarak also officially inaugurated the new Aswan airport, the nation's second largest after Cairo airport.
..speaking to foreign investors at Aswan Iron and Steel Plant on Saturday
The iron and steel project is the first multi-national private venture in this heavy industry sector. Four prominent international companies, which together have an annual capital turnover of $280 billion, are partners, with a combined 30 per cent share in the project. They are US Steel, which will design, manage and maintain the project, Germany's Mannesmann, providing the latest in mining and production equipment, France's Alstom in charge of the plant's utilities, such as water and electricity, and Italy's Pomini. Egypt's Aswan Iron and Steel Company, together with a number of private Egyptian enterprises, are also taking part. The Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation will be footing $420 million of the construction bill. The plant will be the second largest after the Helwan Iron and Steel Company.
Industry Minister Suleiman Reda said the "international industrial mega company operating in the south of Egypt" was made feasible "as a result of the nation's stable economics and politics". Egypt's investment-incentive economic policies were highly praised by the representatives of the four foreign companies during Mubarak's visit. The representatives also expressed confidence in their domestic private sector partners in the project, which will use the latest in mining technology to cater to the local market and, at a later stage, export surplus production.
The Aswan Iron and Steel Plant will provide 3,000 job opportunities and, indirectly, 9,000 additional opportunities. It will be located in the centre of an area abundant with some 400 million tons of iron ore, of which 70 million tons will be mined over the next 25 years. This proximity will cut down heavily on the production cost. Like other industrial projects in Upper Egypt, the project enjoys a 20-year tax holiday.
The production output of the plant in the first phase is estimated at 1.42 million tons, which will cut down on the large volume of Egypt's steel bar imports. In the second phase, production will be expanded to include unwelded steel pipes, railway tracks and heavy steel blocks, to be produced for the first time in the Middle East.
Mubarak later inaugurated the new Aswan International Airport -- a two-storey, temple-shaped terminal covering an area of 36,000 square metres. It has a capacity of 1,200 passengers per hour. Mubarak was briefed there by Transport Minister Suleiman Metwalli on the progress being made in upgrading a number of airports across the country. These include the Abu Simbel, Luxor and Sharm Al-Sheikh airports, which handle heavy tourist traffic, the airport at East Oweinat, which is mainly used for exporting Egyptian agricultural produce, and Al-Kharga and Al-Dakhla airports in the southern section of the New Valley.
