CAIRO — The chairman of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), Yehya Zaki, signed June 13 a cooperation agreement with Giovanni Bruno Ferrari, general manager of the Colon Free Zone of the Panama Canal. The signing ceremony took place at the headquarters of the SCZone’s General Authority in Cairo.

According to a press statement released by the Suez Canal Authority after the signing of the deal June 13, the agreement aims to boost cooperation between the two zones and promote the exchange of information, expertise and technology, to provide an opportunity to lure investors to the industrial, logistical and commercial zones that they manage. 

The statement continued that the two zones share the same vision of becoming global leading economic hubs and preferred destinations for investment.

The agreement, according to the statement, also aims to identify investment opportunities in the SCZone whose distinguished location makes it a gateway to the African continent, with its six affiliated ports overlooking the Red and Mediterranean seas, two development areas and two integrated areas in Sukhna and East Port Said. The agreement also aims to clarify the opportunities that Panama may offer to Egypt, as an outlet for the large Latin market of about 650 million people.