JEDDAH – Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Transport and Industry Kamel el Wazir stressed the importance of full integration between seaports and maritime connectivity in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, in light of the great development in the maritime transport system in the two countries.
The minister’s remarks were made during his tour of Jeddah Islamic Port. Wazir was accompanied by Saudi Deputy Minister of Transport for Transport and Logistics Rumaih bin Mohammed Al-Rumaih.
Wazir underlined that the Egyptian government attached great importance to achieving a quantum leap in the maritime transport sector.
The minister further noted that three new seaports have been built, bringing the total number of Egyptian ports to 18.
Also, new berths and terminals have been constructed, increasing the total length of berths to reach 100 kilometers, in addition to 50-km-long berths and port breakwaters, Wazir said.
The shipping lanes were also expanded, so that the handling and storage capacity of the port could accommodate 40 million TEUs annually and 400 million tons of goods, Wazir added.
He noted that Egypt’s maritime transport sector managed to attract six top international shipping lines; Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Maersk, France’s Compagnie maritime d’affrètement – Compagnie générale maritime or CMA CGM, Hapag-Lloyd, China’s COSCO and Evergreen Marine Corp.
It also attracted seven international operators; CK Hutchison, Euro Jet, CMA Terminals, a fully owned CMA CGM subsidiary, A.P. Moller, TiL Group, AD Ports Group and DP World, the minister added.
This falls within the framework of the plan to turn Egypt into a regional center for transport, logistics and transit trade, in line with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s directives.
