SCZone, China's Hightex to build $17 mln fabric plant - Markets & Companies
The Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) has signed a $17m agreement with China's Hightex Industrial to build a decorative fabric plant in the Qantara West Industrial Zone, boosting textile exports and deepening industrial ties with China.
SCZone chairman Walid Gamal El-Din and Hightex chairman Wenlong Lu signed the deal.
The self-financed facility will span 65,000 square-metres and aim to produce over 20 million metres of fabric annually, all for export. It is expected to create around 300 direct jobs.
Gamal El-Din said the plant will be located near existing textile ventures in Qantara West, which it described as a 'success story' that has quickly attracted international investment in the fabric and garment sectors.
With this deal, the number of contracted projects in Qantara West rises to 20, with total pledged investments of $596.5 million and more than 27,600 jobs.
Gamal El-Din highlighted the zone's strategic location—between the Red Sea and Mediterranean ports and near population centres with available labour—as key to its appeal for labour-intensive industries.
Founded in 1990 in Hangzhou, Hightex supplies decorative fabrics and home furnishings globally. It has research and sales hubs in the US and manufacturing operations in China and Vietnam.
The agreement is the latest in a series of China-backed textile projects in the zone. On Sunday, SCZone signed a $15 million deal with Chinese firm GS Global Sourcing to establish a ready-made garment factory in Qantara West.
In March, Chinese company Jiangsu Guotai signed a $10 million usufruct contract for another garment plant in the same zone. The plant is expected to create 2,000 jobs and export all its production.
In late 2024, SCZone also broke ground on a $51million ready-made garment project in partnership with Turkey's Eroğlu Global Holding.
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