Sisi: Upgrading ports, maritime transport services in integration with S. Canal Axis

Cairo- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has called for upgrading the country’s maritime transport fleet and ports in such a way that befits Egypt’s stature and geographical position. The envisaged upgrading, the president has underscored, should proceed in complementation with the Suez Canal Axis enterprise and should follow the highest standards.

In directives he gave during a meeting with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli and Transport Minister Kamel el-Wazir Monday, the president stressed that the aspired upgrading should help launch direct lines between Egyptian and African ports, thereby making it possible to increase the volume of trade with various countries of the continent, Presidency Spokesman Bassam Radi said in a statement.

The meeting was devoted to a review of the executive position of Transport Ministry projects, especially including those on the upgrading of ports and maritime services, the spokesman said.

The presidential directives, spokesman Radi said, called for upgrading the country’s maritime shipping fleet and ports on both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea in line with the latest models and in integration with the Suez Canal Axis as a link between East and West.

In a presentation during the meeting, Minister el-Wazir outlined the efforts and projects under way to raise the efficiency of the system of maritime transport services, including the fleet and ports, making special reference in this regard to the ports of Alexandria, Dikhaila, Ain-Soukhna, Safaga and Damietta, Spokesman Radi said.

Also reviewed during the meeting were the works under way to build the infrastructure for the fast electric train line to connect Mersa Matruh, Alamein and Ain-Soukhna, especially regarding the construction of stations and the provision of train units.

Raising the capacity of the transport sector was also the topic of another meeting that President Sisi held Monday with the Chairman of the French Alstom Group,‪ Henri Poupart-Lafarge, in the presence of Prime Minister Madbouli and Transport Minister el-Wazir.

In remarks during the meeting, the president noted Egypt’s firm orientation to develop co-operation with French companies within the framework of distinguished relations that exist between the two countries and also in the light of the large experience of French companies in various fields of comprehensive development and associated infrastructure upgrading in Egypt, the spokesman said.

President Sisi also called for increasing the pace of industry and technology localisation as part of current or future Alstom activities here, including through the establishment of training centres in parallel with benefiting from foreign expertise.