Cairo: Egypt has signed an agreement with Qatar’s Al Mana Holding for an initial investment of $200 million to set up a sustainable aviation fuel project using used cooking oil at Ain Sokhna in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the Cabinet said on Sunday, reports Zawya.
According to an official statement, the project will be implemented in three stages and will cover an area of 100,000 square metres within the Integrated Sokhna Zone along Egypt’s Red Sea coast. The first phase is expected to have an annual production capacity of about 200,000 tonnes.
The agreement marks the first industrial investment by a Qatari company in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, the government said.
Egypt has been actively seeking foreign investments in recent years, particularly from cash-rich Gulf nations, as it works to manage high external debt levels and a wide fiscal deficit.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the project highlights the growing strength of ties between Egypt and Qatar, noting that improved relations are helping boost cooperation through joint investments and higher trade flows.
In a related development, the real estate arm of Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund announced last month plans to invest $29.7 billion in a large luxury real estate and tourism project on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
That investment was the biggest by Qatar in Egypt since diplomatic ties were restored after a 2017–2021 rift, when Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain severed relations with Doha over allegations of supporting terrorism and maintaining close links with Iran, which Qatar had denied.
