Egypt celebrates Suez Canal expansion

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has officially inaugurated the New Suez Canal, a highly-publicized project meant for boosting his nationalist image and shoring up the country’s battered economy.

The statement said Gadkari congratulated the Egyptian Minister on the completion of new Suez Canal project in record time of 11 months.

“We guaranteed something to this world and then we realized this in no time is that a further road for wealth plus that gives you the option to connect gas and electricity humanity to boost the moving of overseas negotiate”, he explained, as the primary motorboat, a pot or container transport…

Banks and most businesses were closed and authorities, in sharp contrast to the government’s zero tolerance for political demonstrations, allowed people to gather on streets and squares to celebrate the occasion.

Security was tight, with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group’s warning – that it might execute a Croatian kidnapped near Cairo – threatening to overshadow the celebrations, which the authorities aimed to showcase as proof the country was safe. He stressed the importance of the new Suez Canal which, he said, would hopefully change the map of the Egyptian economy for the better and bolster Egypt’s global standing.

The $8.5 billion extension to the Suez Canal came amid criticism that the hastily-built project was mainly aimed at reinforcing Sisi’s image.

Officials have played up the canal expansion’s potential to redraw the “map of the world” just as the 146-year-old original did, even as the shipping industry has doubted its necessity.

The Suez Canal – built between 1859 and 1869 – is one of the world’s busiest waterways, linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and allowing ships to skip sailing around the continent of Africa.

The project, expected to take over 36 months, was completed in exactly one year.

During Sisi’s speech, the president paused while two giant ships were seen crossing in different directions through two passages of the canal amid cheers of the attendees.

“The new canal is one of a thousand steps that we Egyptians are required to go through”, the Egyptian president continued, adding that the establishment of the new waterway was done under unusual circumstances amid destructive terrorism.

Below the words, “Love live Egypt”, tiny blue waves licked the boat’s frosted hull, which carried a picture of Egypt’s president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, in sunglasses, solemnly staring into the distance.

It involved extending a waterway parallel to part of the 19th century canal, as well as deepening and widening the old channel.

Egyptian air force planes parade during the inauguration ceremony of the new section of the Suez Canal in Ismailia, Egypt, August 6, 2015. “El-Sisi understands the hunger of the Egyptian people for success in the world, and he’s giving it to them”.

Nasser declared his government, throughout taking over the canal, could receive $100 million a year in revenue.

The government says the expansion will more than double the canal’s annual revenue to $13.2 billion by 2023, according to The Associated Press.

(AFP) Fawaz Gerges, of the London School of Economics and Political Science, called it “a magnificent project” but added that it “does not resolve the structural challenge facing the economy”. The canal is managed by the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), which is wholly owned by the Egyptian Government since the canal was nationalised in 1956.