Egypt unveiled its first domestically manufactured oil rig Wednesday. The onshore drill, produced by an Egyptian-Chinese joint venture, was unveiled at a ceremony in the northeastern Ain Sokhna port attended by Egypt’s minister for petroleum and minerals, Tarek el-Moll.
China’s ambassador to Egypt, Zhang Chaoyang, said the drill was funded through China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a massive global infrastructure effort.
Although traditionally a US ally, Egypt has drawn closer to China over the past decade. China is now one of Egypt’s largest trading partners and is the country’s fourth largest creditor, holding roughly 5% of Egypt’s external debt. In January, the China Development Bank and Chinese-dominated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank loaned Egypt a further $1.4 billion as part of a deal with the International Monetary Fund.
Egypt is one of the Arab world’s largest recipients of Chinese investment. Its control of the strategic Suez Canal waterway has made it a focus of the Belt and Road Initiative, which is aimed, in part, at expanding China’s role in global transportation and shipping.