ST. PETERSBURG, July 27. /TASS/. A new production facility will be launched by the end of this year in Egypt as part of the special economic zone project, Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa summit.

"For example, we have a special zone project in Egypt. We have two sites there; the second site is on the Red Sea coast, very convenient. We expect to open a new production facility there and launch logistics by the year-end. In other words, to make our hub for Africa," the minister said.

Creation of conditions for protection of investments and establishment of free trade zones will be the primary areas for the state to provide support to companies ready to enter the African market, Reshetnikov noted. "From this standpoint, we have six agreements on protection and encouragement of investments with African countries, that provide for a good protection framework in general, and we are holding talks with two other ones," the minister added.