DP World Sokhna has inked a trilateral partnership with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) to become the main import terminal of Egypt’s New Administrative Capital (NAC), Invest-Gate reports.

Under the agreement, DP World Sokhna will serve as the main hub for all construction material imports needed to build the new capital’s Central Business District (CBD), according to a press release on December 8.

CSCEC, which is currently developing NAC’s business district, will also benefit from Ain Sokhna’s proximity to NAC as well as its advanced road and rail links. This comes on top of the port’s strategic location, which is just below the southern entrance to the Suez Canal, on the Red Sea, thereby acting as a key gateway for different foreign markets such as Asia and Europe.

The signing ceremony was held at CSCEC premises in NAC, in the attendance of CEO of DP World Sokhna Ajay Singh, General Manager of CSEC Egypt Chang Weicai, Managing Director of COSCO Egypt Fan Jue, among other officials and executives, the statement noted.

Suhail Al Banna, CEO and managing director of DP World Middle East and Africa, remarked, “Our strategic partnership with [CSCEC and COSCO] provides the opportunity for DP World Sokhna to expand its role in supporting the Egyptian economy by serving as the exclusive port for all of the CBD’s cargo, and ultimately, companies who will be setting up their operations in the new capital.”

DP World Sokhna already has a dedicated facility catering to CSCEC’s existing and future businesses. Further, it recently marked the ten-year anniversary by unveiling a major expansion through Basin 2, bringing its total investments in Egypt to USD 1.6 bn (EGP 25.84 bn). Once completed in Q2 2020, the facility will nearly double the port’s annual capacity to 1.75 mn Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs).