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STORY: Egypt is building a vast industrial zone on this reclaimed mudflat, on the Mediterranean just east of the Suez Canal.

It's one of four under construction along the canal, which is a transit route for about 15% of global shipping traffic, and it will produce goods for both the domestic market and export.

The East Port Said Industrial Zone's developers - private Egyptian companies plus the military-owned National Service Projects Organization - hope the strategic location means it will succeed where others have floundered.

This is the zone's CEO Sameh Gabra:

"This area stretches over 16 million square kilometres and is in a genius location, because the factories here can ship their products to Europe in 48 hours. As we all witnessed during the pandemic, the supply chains from China have been interrupted or halted. The East Port Said company presents itself as an alternative, a smaller-scale alternative for situations where the supply chain from China is halted."

Egypt runs a large trade deficit and has struggled to develop an industrial base.

Economists say many of the industrial parks it has so far tried to create lie semi-vacant, partly because they are far from urban areas where workers live.

This zone lies four miles from the city of Port Said and near to a new city being built to the east.

The project is expected to take 15 years. The first-phase target is to lure Egypt's automotive firms by setting up painting, printing and dashboard-producing lines.

"There’s an agricultural area, a port and logistics area, an industrial zone, where we are now, and a residential area, all of which lie on the borders of the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. This is part of a comprehensive plan to develop the entire area, which hasn’t been developed for many years - this is the future of Egypt."

The first factory, which will make carriages for trains and metro lines, is due for completion by June 2023.

Gabra said construction on other factories is expected to begin by later this year.