Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has given directives to the Suez Canal Authority to intensify action to upgrade the facility’s infrastructure in order to optimise the waterway’s capacities and bolster its competitiveness and unique position in global shipping and trade, thereby supporting the country’s efforts to achieve comprehensive development.
The directives to this effect came in the course of a meeting that President Sisi held with SCA Chairman Usama Rabie on Monday, Presidency Spokesman Ahmed Fahmy said. The meeting, he added, was devoted to reviewing the Suez Canal Authority’s performance in the 2022/2023 fiscal year.
In a briefing to the president during the meeting, SCA Chief Rabie said that the canal saw a 17.6 per cent increase in the number of ships transiting it in the past year, to reach around 26,000 ships.
Revenues also increased by 34.7 per cent, to reach $9.4 billion, and the authority expects revenues to reach $10.3 billion by the end of the current calendar year.
The SCA’s plans to develop the southern sector of the canal and the authority’s efforts to modernise its fleet of tugboats and dredgers were discussed during the meeting, Spokesman Fahmy said.
Stressing that the projects to develop the canal’s infrastructure and improve its efficiency are essential for maintaining the canal’s competitive edge and unique position in global trade, President Sisi directed the SCA to continue intensive action to implement these projects within the framework of the strategy for developing waterway’s navigational route and its utilities, the spokesman said.
