Egypt unveiled New Suez Canal expansion

Egypt is to unveil a major extension of the Suez Canal on Thursday, a mega-project that has emerged as a cornerstone of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s efforts to restore national pride and revive the economy after years of unrest.

Gadkari is in Egypt representing India at the inaugural ceremony of new Suez Canal on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Egypt is not the only country of the project”.

“We, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, give the permission for the opening of the new Suez Canal“, he said to the applause of attendees at the ceremony.

Officials have played up the economic potential of the canal’s expansion, saying it will redraw the “map of the world” just as the 146-year-old original did – but many in the shipping industry have doubted its necessity.

Infrastructure development supports trade and economies and Egypt’s growth is something DP World said it was keen to support.

“The Suez Canal comes in the fifth place among Egypt’s GDP after Egyptian expats remittances, commodity exports, oil and gas exports, direct foreign tourism and investment”, said Youm7.

The new Suez Canal extension involved digging and dredging along 72 kilometers (45 miles) of the 193-kilometer canal, making a parallel waterway at its middle that will facilitate two-way traffic.

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.

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.

Egyptians dance in tahrir square to celebrate canal opening.

Spearheaders of the project predict that the added waterway will raise revenue from $3.5 billion (USD) to $8.4 billion (USD).

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.

“Any project, regardless of its size, is welcomed if it really offers new jobs and generates hard currency”, said Mohammed Magdy, a psychical trainer.

Egyptian men watch the live streaming for the new Suez channel branch on the Egyptian TV on a cafe downtown Cairo, Egypt, August 6, 2015.

On Thursday, as children in sailor uniforms waved the Egyptian flag, and fighter jets turned somersaults in the sky spewing the national colours – a cargo ship floated down the newly-inaugurated second passageway of the Suez Canal for the first time.

This is besides the analysis that the expansion of the Panama Canal, due to be completed next year, will compete with Suez for traffic along the Asia-North America route.

Egypt’s Cabinet has declared Thursday a public holiday and allowed free entrance to museums for Egyptians until the end of the month.

The waterway is part of a comprehensive project to develop the area adjacent to the canal into an industrial hub.

“The government’s projections appear to be based on implausibly optimistic assumptions about world trade and we think the actual benefits are likely to be smaller than the authorities seem to be hoping for”, said William Jackson of Capital Economics.

State authority did break down following the popular uprising that ousted long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011.