The morning light on the banks of the Nile River shines on the construction sites of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, and the roar of machines heralds a water resources revolution. In May 2026, news came from the PPP Center of the Egyptian Ministry of Finance that a major water tender related to national economy and people's livelihood was about to begin. With the end of the Eid al Adha holiday, international investors will once again focus on this hot land, competing for hundreds of millions of dollars in seawater desalination and industrial wastewater treatment projects, injecting new development vitality into this desert country.

The Suez Canal project takes the lead

According to the bidding plan released in May 2026, the first project to be launched is located within the Suez Canal Economic Zone, with a daily production capacity of up to 250000 cubic meters. The project will adopt a comprehensive model of design, financing, construction, operation, maintenance, and ownership transfer, and will be supported by the PPP Center of the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The government has started negotiations with international giants such as Saudi Arabia's Acwa, aiming to quickly resolve water bottle necks in industrial zones through a public-private partnership model.

Four sewage treatment plants follow closely behind

After the canal project, the government will launch tenders for four industrial wastewater treatment plants within 45 days. Among them, two have respectively settled in the Amreya Industrial Zone in Alexandria and the Abroaz region in Giza. Especially for the Abu Dhabi Phase IV expansion project, with a designed processing capacity of 400000 cubic meters per day, advanced design, construction, operation, and maintenance contract models will be adopted to significantly enhance the industrial wastewater carrying capacity of Giza Province. Keywords: Middle East news and information, seawater desalination, sewage treatment

Trillion target drives reform

Currently, Egypt produces only 1.5 to 2 million cubic meters of desalinated water per day, which is a huge gap from its goal of reaching 8 to 9 million cubic meters by 2050. To this end, Egypt is accelerating the upgrading of sewage treatment in places such as Alexandria and Dumyat, using preferential loans from the French Development Agency and the European Investment Bank to ensure that every drop of wastewater can be converted into valuable resources to support industrial development through technological transformation and expansion.Editor/Gao Xue