The Cairo-based Industrial Development Group (IDG), an industrial arm of Egypt-based construction firm Samcrete, is set to sign an agreement to develop an industrial zone in East Port Said area within the first quarter of this year.

Sources close to the project told MEED the agreement will be signed with the Suez Canal Economic Zone Authority (SCZone) in the next two months.

IDG will be the first Egyptian-based firm to take part in the development of the East Port Said area. The company has already started infrastructure work although it is yet to sign an official contract, an Egyptian official added.

IDG is set to develop East Port Said’s industrial zone on an area of 4 million square metres.

So far Egypt has received interest from French firm Bollore. In December MEED reported that the firm was looking to develop a number of transportation and logistics projects in the East Port Said area. Further to this, according to a statement released by the chairman of the Egyptian Industrial Development Authority (IDA), Ismail Gaber, the Russians have also expressed interest in the proposed indusrial area, which is set to make up a large portion of the proposed Suez Canal masterplan.

Cairo is currently planning to develop a master industrial and logistics zone surrounding the main ports of the Suez Canal. The government recently approved a draft decree establishing the General Authority of the Economic Zone of the Suez Canal (GAESC), changing the area into an economic authority, allowing the SCZone to act as a single window able to deal with investors directly.