CAIRO-  Egypt has signed a $7.5 billion deal to construct a petrochemical complex in the Ain Sokhna industrial zone, the government said on Wednesday.

The 3.56 million square meter facility is the latest part of the country's efforts to try to develop an energy hub in the eastern Mediterranean.

The deal, between the Red Sea National Refining and Petrochemicals Company and the Suez Canal Economic Zone's development company, aims to produce value-added petroleum products in order to fill Egypt's domestic needs and enable exports.

The products include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, bunker fuel and other petroleum and chemical products, the statement said.

(Reporting by Momen Saeed Atallah, writing by Nafisa Eltahir, editing by Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman) ((Nafisa.Eltahir@thomsonreuters.com;))