[Video] Massawa Industrial Zone Update

Massawa Industrial Zone

Construction of the Massawa Industrial Zone is in full swing.

The following is article written in 2010 by China Daily on the project:

A core pillar of Eritrea's modern economic policy is the setting up of new free trade zones that will generate fiscal growth, create jobs, boost government revenue and raise the country's profile on the global stage.

With a strategic location on international shipping lanes, Eritrea offers exporters and investors easy access to foreign markets, with up to 40,000 cargo ships a year - carrying some 700 million tons of cargo - passing close to its coast.

In order to capitalize on these commercial opportunities, Eritrea is building a series of modern free trade zones comprising factories, warehouses, offices, roads, airports and transport facilities. The first free trade zone will commence operations shortly at Massawa after the government invested millions of dollars in the transformation of 5,000 hectares of land next to a former naval base.

Chinese enterprises are among the foreign firms that will be based there and benefit from a tax-free environment in which no direct or indirect taxes are paid on sales or profits.

A second facility at Assab will open later this year and officials have plans for similar developments across the country, including one focused on agro-businesses near the border with Sudan.

The 'multiplier' effect

According to Eritrea Free Zones Authority CEO, Araia Tseggai, the free trade zones will stoke the economy through the "multiplier" effect of employment, training and education opportunities and act as a magnet for foreign investors.

"We feel they are a good place for Chinese companies to secure and buy resources from Eritrea, process them there and take them to China or use them for their own purposes anywhere in the world," he said.

"Looking ahead to the imminent openings of the new free trade zones at Massawa and Assab, Tseggai emphasized the importance of Eritrea's location in the Horn of Africa and revealed that while the Massawa facility will focus on manufacturing, the sister zone at Assab will be aimed at transshipment-related operations and services.

"Cargo ships are always passing and this element is crucial as most of the shipping firms will end up stopping here and picking up their produce to wherever they are going," he said.

"Chinese enterprises always carry out relatively large projects so if the Chinese start up businesses and logistical operations here it will be very important for our current and future operations as they are significant investors."

A leading figure in Eritrea's import and export sector - and an organization that is sure to benefit from the presence of the free trade zones - is the government-owned Red Sea Trading Corporation.

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