Egypt, China sign exchange of letter on aid projects

Egypt and China signed on Tuesday an exchange of letter on two projects to be constructed with Chinese aid.

Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Fayza Abu Naga and Chinese Ambassador to Egypt Wu Sike inked the document in Cairo.

The two projects are a service building in a special economic zone located on the western side of the Suez Canal and a Chinese- learning school complex.

The service building, which will be constructed at a cost of 80 million yuan (about 9.9 million U.S. dollars), will provide one- stop service to foreign investors.

The school, with a cost of 30 million yuan (about 3.7 million dollars), will be the first Chinese school in Egypt and in the Middle East at large.

After the signing ceremony, Abu Naga expressed her gratitude to the Chinese government and the Chinese people for the projects, which she said were a major step in efforts exerted by the two countries to develop a strategic partnership.

Egypt welcomes more investments from Chinese companies and the Egyptian government is willing to learn from China in terms of building special economic zones and other good experience, said Abu Naga.

For his part, Egyptian Education Minister Youssry al-Gamal said that the Chinese school is set to open a new chapter in cultural and educational exchanges between Egypt and China, thus promoting Sino-Egyptian relations.

The Chinese ambassador said that bilateral relations have significantly developed since the two countries decided to build a strategic partnership in 1999.

Wu said that China has attached importance to developing its ties with Egypt, especially economic cooperation, a main issue since a summit between Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in January, 2004.

Noting that China and Egypt will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year, Wu said that such an event will provide an opportunity for the two countries to deepen political and economic cooperation.

Trade volumes between the two countries reached 2.1 billion dollars in 2005, an increase of more than 36 percent over the previous year, according to Wu.

Source: Xinhua