Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly laid on Saturday the foundation stone of the Suez Canal Economic Zone's (SCZone) petrochemical complex built at an estimated cost of $7.5 billion.

The 3.56 million-square-meter complex in Ain Sokhna will meet the local market needs of petroleum and petrochemical products and the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, and bunker fuel, a Cabinet statement said.

The facility will have a production capacity estimated at 1 million tonnes annually, the statement said, adding it will contribute to lowering the state’s imports of the vital products.

The go-live phase of the complex, which will offer around 15,000 job opportunities, is set for the first half of 2024.

Madbouly also toured the SCZone to follow up on the progress made in implementing several projects in the zone, the infrastructure and utilities work, and the revamp of Ain Sokhna Port.

He said that zone is considered one of the most important national projects, urging a strategic focus on projects in the zone that are based on investments targeting localization of technology, industrial capacity, and employment creation.

In April, the SCZone signed an agreement worth EGP 20 billion ($1.27 billion) with the General Authority for Roads and Bridges to develop the Canal Zone's Ain Sokhna port.

The agreement is part of a plan to turn the port into a leading hub in the region on the Red Sea and the Middle East, and to serve the global trade movement between the east and the west.

It also comes under presidential directives to revamp national ports and boost their efficiency to raise their competitiveness among other ports along the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.