October 21, 2019

New Hope inaugurates fish feed company in Egypt

New Hope Liuhe Co. Ltd. inaugurated last week its fish feed company in the northern Egyptian city of Gamasa, in a bid to support the Arab country's aquatic feed industry, Xinhua reported.

New Hope Egypt Aquatic Technology Co. Ltd. (NHEAT) is the fourth project for New Hope Liuhe Co. Ltd. in Egypt since it began investing in the country in 2011, said Luo Guoqiang, general manager of NHEAT, at the opening ceremony.

With an investment estimated at 180 million Egyptian pounds (~US$11 million), the new company has built a factory covering 13,000 square metres, Luo said.

The factory, which employs 100 Egyptian workers, has two lines that produce 100,000 tonnes of fish fish annually, he added, noting that the pilot operation of the factory began in April.

Liu Lei, executive chairman for overseas business of the New Hope Liuhe Co., said that in light of the friendly cooperation between Egypt and China under the Belt and Road Initiative, "(they) succeeded in establishing projects in Egypt with a total investment of 100 million dollars and the annual production of 250,000 tonnes of animal feed."

Wu Ping, head of the manufacturing sector of the Chinese Egyptian Trade Chamber in Egypt, considered the opening of NHEAT as "a very important step in the road of developing the Chinese companies in Egypt," noting NHEAT is the first Chinese company that entered the field of fish feed production in Egypt.

He noted that the factories run by New Hope Liuhe Co. are operated in different Egyptian provinces with annual sales valued over two billion Egyptian pounds, providing more than 600 permanent job opportunities and over 3,000 indirect jobs for local people.

Ahmad Mahmoud, chairman of the executive authority of Gamasa Industrial Zone, described the factory as "a unique and very special project", and that the Egyptian fish farming industry requires more of such factories.

Salem Metwalli, one of the new factory's clients, commended on NHEAT's technical service which extends across the whole fish farming process.

Metwalli has signed a deal to purchase 1,500 tonness of products from the newly-opened factory since April.