埃及计划通过苏伊士运河获利
埃及正艰难恢复经济并创造更多就业，为此，该国正寻求进一步利用其处于非亚欧交界的战略地理位置。
The Suez Canal Economic Zone, launched in 2015, has plans to create an industrial and logistics hub surrounding the Suez Canal, the vital shipping route connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
2015年推出的“苏伊士运河经济区”(Suez Canal Economic Zone)计划围绕苏伊士运河建设一个工业和物流中心。这条运河是连接红海和地中海的重要航线。
“The most important feature of the zone is its geographical location on an international trade route,” says Mohab Mamish, the SCEZ chairman who also heads the Suez Canal Authority that runs the waterway. He adds that “10 per cent of global trade goes through the Suez Canal”.
苏伊士运河经济区董事长穆哈卜•马米什(Mohab Mamish)表示：“这个经济区最重要的特点是其位于这条国际贸易航线上的地理位置。”他补充称，“全球有10%的贸易要经过苏伊士运河”。他还管理着经营这条运河的苏伊士运河管理局(Suez Canal Authority)。
Egypt hopes to attract foreign investors into export-oriented industries in the special zone — which encompasses ports on the Red Sea and the Mediterranean — and to exploit Egypt’s trade agreements with African, Arab and European countries. These increase access to a market of more than a billion people.
埃及希望吸引外国投资者进入该经济区(包括红海和地中海的港口)的出口导向型行业，并充分利用埃及与非洲、阿拉伯和欧洲国家的贸易协议。这些举措将推动埃及企业进入总人口逾10亿的上述市场。
Another ambition is to provide logistical services such as bunkering and transshipment to some of the 17,000 vessels that use the canal every year. “If you can grab the attention of a good percentage of these vessels and provide some value-added services you make a huge amount of money,” says Ahmed Darwish, former chairman of the zone.
埃及的另一项伟大理想是向每年经过苏伊士运河的1.7万艘船舶中的部分船舶提供物流服务，例如加油和转运业务。苏伊士运河经济区前董事长艾哈迈德•达尔维什(Ahmed Darwish)表示：“如果你能抓住其中一些船舶的注意力，提供一些附加值服务，那么你就能赚很多钱。”
The SCEZ will be helped by the reforms undertaken to secure a loan from the International Monetary Fund. These include the flotation, and subsequent sharp devaluation, of the Egyptian pound, which has made the country more attractive to foreign investors. The IMF recently agreed to disburse the second tranche of a $12bn loan.
埃及为从国际货币基金组织(IMF)获得一笔贷款而实施了一些改革，苏伊士运河经济区将从中受益。其中包括埃及镑的汇率波动以及随后的大幅贬值。这增加了该国对外国投资者的吸引力。IMF最近同意发放这笔120亿美元贷款的第二批资金。
However, business people and analysts still want to see an improvement in Egypt’s labyrinthine bureaucracy. It is ranked 122 out of 190 countries in the World Bank ease of doing business rankings.
然而，商界人士和分析人士仍希望看到埃及错综复杂的官僚体制有所改善。在世界银行(World Bank)的经商环境排行榜上，埃及在190个国家中排在第122位。
In an effort to avoid that bureaucracy and attract investment, the zone has been established as an independent entity able to register companies and issue permits with minimum delays. It is customs free and allows repatriation of profits.
为了规避官僚和吸引投资，苏伊士运河经济区已成为一个独立实体，可以尽可能快地注册公司和发放许可，免关税，还允许将利润汇回本国。
Work is under way to expand and develop the zone’s ports so they can handle bigger vessels and accommodate activities such as transshipment, with the facilities to handle, store and repackage cargo. Tunnels are being dug under the canal to improve connectivity between its two banks.
埃及正致力于扩大并开发该经济区的港口，建设处理、存储和再打包货物的设施，这样它们就能容纳更大型船舶并安排转运等活动。苏伊士运河下方正在开挖隧道，以改善运河两岸之间的联系。
Officials say they have already leased 23m sq m of land for $15bn worth of investment in projects that are due to be built over the next five years. Clients include Siemens and General Electric, as well as such industrial developers as the ASEC-Capital alliance, which includes prominent Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, and Lebanese companies.
官员们表示，他们已租借了2300万平方米的土地，计划在未来5年建成价值150亿美元的投资项目。客户包括西门子(Siemens)、通用电气(General Electric)、以及ASEC-Capital联盟——该联盟包括沙特阿拉伯、阿联酋、埃及和黎巴嫩的知名公司——等工业开发商。
The SCEZ is in talks with a consortium comprising Toyota, Japanese shipping group NYK and Bolloré, the French transport and logistics company, for a roll on roll off ferry terminal at East Port Said, part of the zone. There are also negotiations with the Port of Singapore and French shipping group CMA CGM for an East Port Said container terminal.
苏伊士运河经济区正就该地区东塞得港的一个滚装船码头与一个财团进行谈判，这个财团包括丰田(Toyota)、日本航运公司日本邮船(NYK)和法国交通和物流集团博罗雷(Bolloré)。他们还在就东塞得港的一个集装箱码头与新加坡港和法国达飞海运集团(CMA CGM)进行谈判。
The SCEZ also hopes to attract job-creating medium and light industries, such as textiles and pharmaceuticals. But some investors say transport is inadequate and that, apart from Port Said, the region’s biggest city, canal zone towns have small populations.
苏伊士运河经济区还希望吸引能创造就业的传媒和轻工业，例如纺织和制药。但一些投资者表示，该地区交通设施薄弱，除了地区最大城市塞得港，运河地区城镇的人口很少。
Alaa Arafa, of Arafa Holding, one of Egypt’s biggest garment exporters says proximity to labour is more important than being near a port: “It is no good building a factory then transporting people to work in it.”
埃及最大成衣出口商之一Arafa Holding的阿拉•阿拉法(Alaa Arafa)表示，靠近劳动力所在地比接近港口更重要：“建工厂，然后将员工运到这里工作，这并非一件好事。”
Wael Ziada, head of investment company Zilla Capital, says that the zone’s success depends on “whether managers will be responsive to investors’ needs”. It will need “patience and planning”, he says, to avert the pitfalls which often mar economic management in Egypt.
投资公司Zilla Capital负责人瓦埃勒•齐亚达(Wael Ziada)表示，该经济区的成功取决于“管理者是否响应投资者的需要”。他表示，在埃及，要想避开一些常常会扰乱经济管理的陷阱，需要“耐心和规划”。
