German company pips Chinese firm to win high-speed rail project in Egypt

In what would raise hopes of avoiding Chinese debt trap in the developing world, a consortium led by the German engineering multinational Siemens pipped the Chinese and has been awarded a 4.5-billion-euro contract to build a high-speed rail line in Egypt, a key state in the Arab world.
The railway line will be built from Ain Sukhna at the southern end of the Suez Canal, to Alexandria and the port city of Marsa Matruh – from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt, according to a special report in the leading German magazine Der Spiegel.
Siemens reportedly outsmarted a Chinese competitor for the project, according to Der Spiegel report. “The project, which is backed by a Hermes loan guarantee from the German government, has broad political support in Berlin…,” according to the report.

There are millions of Egyptians who will benefit from this railway project. The line is scheduled for completion in 2027 and will later be extended upriver to Luxor and the resort city of Hurghada, according to Der Spiegel.

It will also provide economic stimulus and create jobs for around 15,000 people in Egypt in the first stage, according to estimates provided by project leader Siemens. Two Egyptian companies have been commissioned with the construction of the route, and the project is progressing quickly, according to the report.

“The order is reminiscent of major infrastructure projects that German companies built in the region during the 1960s and 1970s, traces of which can still be admired today in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Nigeria,” Der Spiegel wrote.

China has been investing in the Mediterranean region. Chinese companies operate port terminals in Haifa, Israel, Port Said, Egypt, and in Piraeus, Greece. The Chinese companies have built a mosque complex in Algeria and solar parks in Morocco. But a railway project in Israel by China never got off yet.