Head of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish stressed on Wednesday that negotiations to set up a Russian industrial zone in eastern Port Said are now in the final stage, expecting an agreement in this regard to be signed within the coming months.

Mamish, in a statement released by the Suez Canal economic zone, the Russian industrial zone will cover an area of 5 million square meters with investments of dlrs 7 billion.

He added that negotiations over the zone were held during the current visit of Russia's Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Georgy Kalamanov to Egypt.

The zone, that aims to create an international hub for manufacturers with easy access to exporting goods to African and European markets, will be built in three stages with the first stage to be launched early in 2018, he added.

The planned Russia zone will include projects in five different sectors.

Both the Russian and Egyptian sides have a strong desire to lure the biggest number of investors to the zone, he said.

Ninety percent of the workforce in the Russian zone will be Egyptians, he added.