Special Economic Zone Around New Suez Canal
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi issued a decree establishing an economic zone for Egypt’s Suez Canal, reports Reuters.
The decree establishes a 460-square-kilometer economic zone around the canal the government says will be used to develop an international industrial and logistics hub that will attract foreign investment.
Egypt inaugurated a major extension of the Suez Canal last week which President Sisi hopes will power an economic turnaround in the Arab world’s most populous country.
Many world leaders were out in force August 6 to commemorate the completion of Egypt's 21st century mega-project, the upgrading of the Suez Canal.
The Suez Canal earns Egypt around 5 billion US dollars a year. The country has said the new Suez Canal is now finished and should increase revenues by 2023 to 15 billion dollars. The project is seen as a symbol of national pride by President el-Sisi and a chance to stimulate the economy.
The new bypass waterway overall will reduce canal transit times from 20 to 11 hours. According to projections by the Suez Canal Authority, daily transits will rise from their current level of 49 ships to 97 merchantmen by 2023.
Egypt expects the economic zone to eventually make up about a third of the country’s economy, the investment minister said in March.