Egypt’s Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy said on Wednesday that a Russian firm has offered to form a consortium with Egypt with the aim of investing in the global logistics centre project, according to Daily News Egypt.
Hanafy said in a statement that a Russian holding company has offered to supply Egypt with all the equipment and machinery required for the project.
On Tuesday, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi issued a decision to form the executive committee to oversee the global logistics centre project, to be headed by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb.
Earlier in October, the government adopted a project to establish a global logistics centre in Damietta for the handling and storage of grain and food commodities. Mehleb announced it as a national project that is of no less important than the Suez Canal expansion.
The project will increase the annual capacity of marine trading of grains and food commodities in Damietta port from the current 7-8m tonnes to 40m tonnes, 12m tonnes of which will be for local consumption, said Hanafy, adding that the total amount of trade expected for the multimedia transportation systems for the project is around 65m tones per year.
Damietta has been identified as the initial site for the logistics operations, Mehleb said last week. He added that the ministers of planning and supply will be responsible for working on integrated studies for the project.