China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) began the main phase of the construction of a new terminal basin in Sokhna Port south of the Suez Canal northeast of Egypt, said he state media Xinhua.
According to the report, the project was assigned to CHEC by the Sokhna branch of the Emirati corporation DP World, the main investor and container operator in the port located at the Gulf of Suez.
CHEC sources said it will deliver the "Basin 2" project in fewer than 12 months ahead of the deadline.
The report quoted Chen Shuang, deputy director of CHEC marketing department as saying that the launching ceremony event held on Tuesday (August 29) wass to show their determination to finish the project quickly and with high quality.
Sokhna Port is located within the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), a main economic region in Egypt whose development is one of the country's mega projects to attract foreign investments for further economic growth.
Mahfouz Taha, SCZone vice chairman, hailed CHEC as "one of the largest and most remarkable port builders and designers in the world," eyeing further cooperation with the Chinese side in the economic zone in the light of China's Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative.
The initiative, proposed in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. It aims at building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient Silk Road trade routes.