EMEA News
New Suez Canal Planned
The Egyptian government says it plans to build a new Suez Canal next the existing waterway at a cost of $4 billion, Reuters reports.
The project will be run by the army as part of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's efforts to stimulate the nation's economy.
The Suez Canal provides about $5 billion to the nation, and a Suez Canal Authority official said the new canal would bring that to $13.5 billion by 2023.
"This giant project will be the creation of a new Suez Canal parallel to the current channel of a total length of 72 kilometres," said Mohab Mamish, chairman of the canal authority.
He said the project, which may take about five years to complete, would include 35 kilometers of dry digging and 37 of "expansion and deepening," suggesting the potential for the widening of the existing 163-kilometer canal.
The new canal is part of the development of an industrial and logistics hub in the Suez area, a project that will be led by global engineering firm Dar al-Handasah and the Egyptian army.
Mohamed Morsi, the former president whom Al-Sisi ousted from power, began planning for the development of the area in 2012, soon after his election.
