ISMAILIA - Chinese companies operating in Egypt held an employment forum on Sunday at the Suez Canal University in Egypt's Ismailia province, east of the capital Cairo.

At least 15 Chinese companies, including Chinese large industrial developer TEDA, fiberglass giant Jushi, Hengshi Egypt Fiberglass Fabric Ltd, XD-EGEMAC High Voltage Co Ltd and New Hope Group for agricultural industries, joined the recruitment forum, which was held in cooperation with the Chinese embassy in Cairo.

Ismailia's Governor Yassin Taher hailed the forum and "the clear criteria set by the Chinese companies for their needs of the Egyptian labor market," noting that most of their needs will be met among the graduates of the Suez Canal University.

"We hope for further cooperation with the Chinese side and for their continuous presence in Egypt, especially at the Suez Canal Corridor region that is economically promising," the governor told Xinhua during the forum.

He said the Egyptian and the Chinese sides discussed all aspects of cooperation including the lands required by prospective Chinese investors in Ismailia.

"We are completely ready to offer all sorts of facilitation to attract more Chinese investments and achieve further economic cooperation with the Chinese side in Ismailia," Taher noted.

The employment forum attracted several hundreds of students and graduates of various majors, such as the Chinese language, commerce and fish farming.

The Chinese companies offered some 300 job opportunities during the recruitment event and have so far received about 1,000 resumes.

Zhu Tingting, Chinese director of Confucius Institute at the Suez Canal University, said the Chinese companies in Egypt cannot grow stronger without Egyptian employees, and building a team of Egyptian professional, qualified and competitive employees is the key to the development of Chinese companies in the Arab country.

"So, it is a win-win situation, as the Egyptians hired at Chinese companies will also help Egypt reduce the unemployment rate," Zhu said.

"I hope that this kind of job fair can be held regularly and Confucius Institute will communicate with the Chinese firms in Egypt in the future to try to hold it biannually," she noted.