Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, stated that the project of full duplication of the canal’s navigable route is still in the study stage, which extends to feasibility studies, environmental studies, engineering and civil studies, soil research, dredging and other studies that the authority will be working on in cooperation with major international consulting companies specialized in this field to finish the study stage within about 16 months, in preparation for presenting the project to the government, provided that the necessary funding for the implementation of the project in the future will be provided from the investment budget of the authority approved by the Ministry of finance without any additional burdens on the state budget.
Rabie stressed that the Suez Canal is moving forward towards completing its ambitious strategy to develop the canal’s navigation through the implementation of several infrastructure development projects, taking into account the technical and economic feasibility of the projects, and their suitability for the development and growth of World Trade, and to be implemented through the investment budget of the authority approved by the Egyptian government.
It should be noted that the ongoing southern sector development project is funded through the investment budget of the authority in Egyptian pounds without loading the state budget with any additional amounts, and the project aims to increase the capacity of the canal by an average of 6 ships, and increase the safety factor of navigation in that sector by 28%.
