The construction of new Egypt capital is now expected to be completed on time after receiving a mega back up by Chinese construction companies and developers.
According to state officials, some major Chinese construction companies has already inked great deals with Egypt to sponsor an ambitious plan to build a new administrative and business capital, the Wall Street Journal said in a recent report.
The backing of the companies will see the ambitious plans for President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s announcement in March 2015 more practical.
The Chinese-state owned company will support up to 15 billion U.S. dollars in loans, grants and memorandums of understanding in the 45-billion-dollar project on 270 square miles (700 square kilometers) of desert land, the report said.
The alliance was announced in January between Egyptian authorities and China State Construction Engineering Corp. Neither side has announced details of the agreement.
In early April, Egypt launched the first phase construction of its new capital east of Cairo, according to Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly.
Chinese companies will only provide Egyptian contractors with long-term loans to finance the construction of 14 new governmental buildings, a major conference center and a fair zone, he told official MENA news agency.
In a January visit to Egypt, Chinese President Xi Jinping suggested that China and Egypt could coordinate their development strategies and visions, and focus on cooperation in infrastructure and production capacity.
President Xi added China is willing to participate in Egypt’s key projects including the construction of a new administrative capital.
China State Construction has completed many big projects, including the expressway from the Bahamas International Airport to downtown Nassau and Terminal One of the Houari Boumediene Airport in Algeria.
The planned new Egyptian capital was designed to relieve the highly congested Cairo, which is home to nearly 22 million people. Officials expect that number to grow to 40 million by 2050.
