Plans for a new submarine cable plant announced by Egypt’s Elsewedy Electric represents not just a Middle East first for the cable manufacturer, it represents the initial investment in ambitious plans to make West Damietta Industrial City—located on the north coast of the Mediterranean Sea—“a regional industrial powerhouse.”

Per reports in multiple publications, including Daily News Egypt, The Middle East Observer and Arab Finance, Elsewedy Electric plans to invest $500 million in the proposed submarine cable plant. It will be the first such plant in the Middle East, and only the sixth such one in the world.

Among those at the signing ceremony with port and government officials were Mohamed El-Qamash, CEO of Infrastructure Investments at Elsewedy Electric, Ahmed Elsewedy, CEO and Managing Director of Elsewedy Electric, and Amr El-Sawaf, General Manager of Egytech Cables. This initiative is part of the government’s comprehensive plan, led by the Ministries of Industry and Transport, to improve infrastructure and upgrade ports, bolstering Egypt’s competitiveness.

The Elsewedy deal, described as the first major investment in the West Damietta Industrial City, will strengthen Egypt’s role as a regional hub for energy transmission and advanced industries by manufacturing submarine cables that connect continents. The design of the factory calls for it to include one of the world’s tallest submarine cable manufacturing towers, exceeding 180 meters in height. Of note, 100% of its output will be exported.

The West Damietta Industrial Zone is part of New Damietta, which was established in 1980 and hosts the industrial zone adjacent to Damietta Port, a strategic location for trade and logistics. The factory itself will span 500,000 sq m within a larger 6 million-sq-m integrated industrial and logistics zone. The West Damietta Industrial Zone is approximately 15 km west of Damietta City, near the New Damietta Port.

Beyond the cable plant, Elsewedy Electric, through its subsidiary ElSewedy Industrial Development, is leading the planning and infrastructure development of the entire zone. Mohamed El-Qamash, CEO of ElSewedy Industrial Development, described the project as a groundbreaking model for industrial zone development.