The China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (TEDA Zone) celebrated its 15th anniversary on July 12 as it unveiled its 2030 Vision-Strategic Upgrade Plan.

According to the new vision, the TEDA zone will connect with Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone of Tianjin, contributing to the city’s opening up to the outside world.

Waleed Gamalaldeen, chairman of Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), the authority behind the TEDA zone, said that TEDA has a unique strategic position for its advantageous location, the hub of three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe, and is an important support point for the Belt and Road Initiative.

Under the joint efforts of the two countries, the TEDA zone is labeled as a model project of the Canal Economic Zone and all of Egypt, and is home to 140 companies, which greatly promotes the economic and trade exchanges and investment cooperation between China and Egypt, the SCZone chairman said.

Abd Almegeed Sakr, governor of Suez governorate, Egypt, thought highly of the TEDA zone and said it is a reliable partner for its complete infrastructure facilities, preferential investment policies, and appeals to foreign investments in Egypt.

"I have visited the TEDA zone many times, and every time I find something new. The construction of the park is getting better and better, and there are more and more companies," he said.

Zhang Chaoyang, minister of the Chinese Embassy in Egypt, said that in the past 15 years, the TEDA zone has flourished from scratch with the support of the two governments. The actual investment, sales, taxes and other indicators have continued to grow.

"Some of the friends here are the pioneers and builders of the TEDA park, and you have witnessed the extraordinary development of the park," Zhang said.

Ma Lu, chief representative of the Cairo Representative Office of the China Development Bank, said that the growth of the TEDA zone is almost the epitome of China and Egypt's continuous deepening of political mutual trust and consolidation of economic and trade cooperation. With hard work and joint efforts for 15 years, the TEDA zone has developed into a model for economic and trade cooperation between Egypt and China.

Chang Weicai, head of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, said the building of the TEDA zone has led to many economic and technical cooperation projects between the two countries. This has greatly driven the economic and social development in Egypt, especially provided more jobs opportunities.

The TEDA zone is currently the industrial park in Egypt with the best comprehensive environment, the highest investment density and unit output, and the most concentrated Chinese-funded enterprises.

According to Zhang Zhixiang, assistant to the executive director of TEDA Egypt, the TEDA zone is home to more than 140 companies with total investments  more than $1.6 billion, cumulative sales of more than $3.7 billion, and tax payments of over $200 million. It has provided jobs for nearly 6,000 people and has created about 50,000 jobs.

The TEDA zone was rated as the most successful project of the Suez Canal Economic Corridor by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also praised the zone as "a model of Egyptian industrial parks" after visiting the zone in spring.

Zhang Gong, mayor of Tianjin, met with Waleed Gamalaldeen not long ago, when he said that Tianjin and Egypt have maintained close exchanges and cooperation for a long time. As the largest coastal open city in northern China, Tianjin has comprehensive advantages in location, port, manufacturing, science and education, and talents. The Suez Canal Economic Zone boasts the most dynamic economic development zone in Egypt, and the cooperation between the two sides has broad prospects.

More efforts should be made to jointly promote the high-quality development of the TEDA zone, strengthen cooperation in port shipping and logistics between the two places, increase cooperation in vocational education, and develop friendly relations with Suez province, Zhang said.

During the celebration ceremony, TEDA zone awarded 15 companies and institutions in four categories of industrial development, business development, financial support, and best partner for their contribution to the construction and development of the cooperation zone.

Approximately 160 people from Egypt's financial and banking institutions, enterprises and partners in the zone attended the event.