The Middle East region connects Europe, Asia and Africa, located at the intersection of "One Belt And One Road". With the steady progress of the "One Belt And One Road" initiative, the economic and trade and investment relations between the Middle East and China have been deepening continuously. In 2018, China invested $28.21 billion in new projects in West Asia and North Africa.
China has made a series of investments in Middle East countries in the past three years, and the Middle East is becoming the most important geo-economic partner for China, said Jiang Yun, representative of the Economic Development Council of the Kingdom of Bahrain in China, at the China-Middle East Investment Cooperation Forum (hereinafter referred to as the Forum).
Egypt focuses on the Suez Canal project
Egypt is the most populous country in the Middle East and the second most populous in Africa. It is not only the land transportation hub between Asia and Africa, but also the shortcut of the sea route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean, so its strategic location is very important.
Envoys from the Han Dynasty visited Egypt more than 100 BC. Today, Egypt is also the first Arab and African country to establish diplomatic relations with China. From 2014 to 2019, the leaders of China and Egypt exchanged seven visits.
Egyptian Minister Plenipotentiary to China Manduh Salman said at the forum that the "One Belt And One Road" initiative takes into account the challenges facing Egypt's current socio-economic growth and the trend of foreign trade development.
As early as 1994, China and Egypt signed an agreement on the protection of overseas investment. In 2016, an agreement on cooperation on the New Silk Road was signed. In 2018, China's exports to Egypt exceeded $20 billion. At present, there are 1,736 Chinese enterprises in Egypt, including CNPC, Sinopec, Huawei, Hisense and Midea.
In 2017, Egypt's General Administration of Suez Canal Economic Zone, COSCO Shipping Co., Ltd. and China Africa TEDA Investment Co., Ltd signed a memorandum of investment cooperation, under which COSCO Shipping will build an international bonded logistics park covering 130,000 square meters in China-Egypt TEDA Suez Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone.
"Many enterprises in the economic and trade cooperation zone export to Europe and have an urgent demand for bonded logistics services. The project aims to promote production capacity cooperation between China and Egypt, while extending its reach to North Africa and Europe." Lin Ji, president of COSCO Shipping Co. Ltd.
In 2016, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi proposed to vigorously develop modern agriculture in Egypt and realize large-scale greenhouse fruit and vegetable cultivation. In 2017, China National Machinery Heavy Industry Corporation signed a contract with Egypt. In October of the same year, construction began on the 10th Ramadan City site, which includes greenhouses, service areas and sorting, packaging and warehousing facilities. Since December 2018, most of the greenhouses have been put into production, growing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and other agricultural products. In addition to meeting the needs of Egypt's domestic market, about 15 percent of these agricultural products are exported to neighboring countries.
In 2018, Stone Stone Group Co., Ltd., a global leader in the fiberglass industry, put into operation a fiberglass production base with an annual output of 200,000 tons in Egypt, with a total investment of 521 million US dollars. As the first large glass fiber production line built by China overseas, it fills the blank of glass fiber production in North Africa.
"The Suez Canal Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a state-level project with Chinese companies from construction to operation," said Salman. Now 80 Chinese companies have set up in the park, creating more than 3,000 jobs with a total investment of more than $1 billion."
Salman noted that Egypt is an important node of the Maritime Silk Road and the Suez Canal is strategically positioned to greatly facilitate trade and connect the three continents of Asia, Africa and Europe. The Egyptian government hopes to attract more investment in the Suez Canal corridor, including the establishment of industrial and technological parks and logistics centers to further promote industrial upgrading and the flow of goods.
Turkey has a market of 1.5 billion people
Turkey's GDP reached $784 billion in 2018. Over the past nine years, economic growth has averaged more than 6%, with a GDP per capita of more than $10,000.
In 1996, Turkey signed a customs union agreement with Europe. Thanks to the deal, half of Turkey's goods go to the European market, worth an estimated $85 billion-90 billion. Turkey has also signed free trade agreements with 27 countries in the Middle East, North Africa, Eastern Europe and other regions.
"Starting from Turkey and spreading all around, you have access to a huge market of 1.5 billion people. Companies that come to invest in Turkey can export their goods to these markets, "he said. "Said Hakan Kochatec, Turkey's chief commercial counsellor in China.
In 2010, China and Turkey formally established a strategic partnership of cooperation. The leaders of the two countries have met eight times in the past four years. From 2003 to 2018, there were more than 61,000 foreign enterprises operating in Turkey, of which more than 1,000 were from China, including large enterprises such as Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Shanghai Electric, ZTE and Huawei.
At present, China has become the third largest trading partner in Turkey after Germany and Russia. Mr Kotchatch believes there is still plenty of room for Chinese investment to rise in the future, particularly in infrastructure, power and IT.
In 2015, ICBC completed the settlement of 75.5% of Tekstil Bankasi A.S. of Turkey and changed its legal name to ICBC (Turkey) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ICBC Turkey), becoming the first Chinese-funded financial institution to set up a business institution in Turkey and the surrounding region.
As the largest commercial bank in the world, ICBC is capable of providing financing support for large enterprises and projects in Turkey and introducing Chinese enterprises as investors for large projects in Turkey. At the same time, ICBC Turkey is deeply rooted in the local market, making full use of its accumulated business base and customer base to provide more and better financial service options for local businesses and retail customers in Turkey.
Not long ago, the Hunutlu power plant, China's largest direct investment project in Turkey, started construction at a cost of $1.7 billion. It is reported that the project, which is held by Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd. and Turkey EMBA Power Generation Co., Ltd., a joint venture established by AVIC International Complete Equipment Co., Ltd. and Turkey's local natural person shareholders, is invested and constructed.
Wang Yundan, Chairman of Shanghai Electric Power Co., Ltd., said that the Hunutlu thermal power project is a key project under China's "One Belt And One Road" initiative and Turkey's "Middle Corridor" initiative. It is the first imported coal power project invested by Chinese enterprises in Turkey, and the smooth implementation of the project will contribute to energy cooperation between China and Turkey. It is of great significance to the management and development of the project investors and the participating enterprises.
"Turkey, located at the junction of the Eurasian continent, was an important node on the ancient Silk Road and hopes to play a bigger role in riding the east wind of the new Silk Road." "Kotchatch said.
Lebanon has a broad space for investment in various fields
Lebanon is a small Asian country with a population of just six million, but it sits at the junction of East and West. One is open to the Arab world, the other is open to the European market, and from this small place there is access to a much bigger market.
Lebanese Commercial Counselor in China, Joseph Tanus, introduced at the forum that Lebanon has a very free market economy and welcomes foreign investors to invest here. It has a strong financial sector that allows foreign companies to enjoy good banking services. It also has a good education system, a high quality labor market, multilingual English, French, Arabic and other languages, and relatively low labor costs. Companies looking to expand into European, African and Arab markets can take advantage of the linguistic advantages of Lebanon's Labour market.
"If you hire a project manager in Beirut, Lebanon, the salary is only $3,600 a year." "Tannus gives an example.
Lebanon has trade agreements with all the Arab countries in the Middle East, and long ago with Europe, where companies can invest in factories to export their products to these markets. In terms of taxation, Lebanon's corporate tax rate is among the lowest in the Middle East and the world, and 30% of the salaries of foreign employees of foreign companies are exempt from payroll tax. In addition, Lebanon is a Mediterranean coastal country, the climate is very comfortable, you can go to the beach in summer, winter can ski. In terms of tourism, it is very attractive.
Mr. Tannus noted that Lebanese wine has been around for more than 5,000 years. Lebanese wines are also popular in some French and Italian restaurants. In addition, olive tree is also originated in Lebanon, olive oil industry also has a big space.
Lebanon, located at the intersection of the "One Belt And One Road", has been a partner on the Silk Road since ancient times. In 2017, Lebanese Minister of Economy and Trade Raid Khun led a delegation to China to attend the China-Arab States Expo. Lebanon and China signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Joining the Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, which officially led Lebanon to join the big family of the "One Belt And One Road". In the same year, the Bank of Lebanon, the Lebanese Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Banking Regulatory Commission signed the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in banking supervision, laying the foundation for further promoting China-Lebanon banking cooperation.
In recent years, China has remained Lebanon's largest trading partner and source of imports. Tannus noted that Lebanon, which has been slowly rebuilding since the end of a 15-year civil war in 1990, is in urgent need of outside investment in roads, electricity, transportation and other infrastructure. As for the huge investment gap in Lebanon, China should focus on investment opportunities and realize effective investment.
