Egypt’s Minister of Transport, Kamel el-Wazir, toured on Monday Sokhna Port and reviewed plans for the operation of new berths in it.
Work done in the port, the minister said, goes hand in hand with international quality standards and adheres to the schedule specified for the completion of the containers terminal in it.
The minister noted that the terminal would be established over an area of 1.6 million square meters, with capacity for 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually.
“It will open the door for the reception of giant ships,” the minister said of the new container terminal.
He noted that the terminal would be ready to receive 400-meters-long vessels.
The new terminal is expected to be operated by an alliance of Hutchison; COSCO;CMA, and CGM.
Minister el-Wazir said work done in Sokhna Port comes in line with commands by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi for the implementation of the Sokhna-Dekheila Integrated Container Logistics Corridor that would link the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.
“This will be the largest logistics corridor to serve global trade between the East and the West,” the minister said.
He noted that the implementation of the corridor would create over 2,000 direct and indirect jobs.
The minister explained that projects implemented in Sokhna Port are important for the implementation of the corridor project.
Efforts are made, he added, to exploit the electric express train in the transport of containers and creating a link between production and consumption areas, logistical centres and dry ports.
This, he said, would help achieve maximum benefit from the infrastructure of Egyptian ports and our multimodal transport that includes roads and railways.
“Maritime transport projects are entirely designed by Egyptian consulting offices and carried out by Egyptian companies,” the minister said.
He cited the examples of the ports ofAlexandria, Dekheila, Damietta, Safaga, and Sokhna.
He described the Hutchison- COSCO-CMA-CGM alliance as the world’s ‘largest’ in the management and operation of shipping lines and international container terminals.
He added that the alliance would invest $1.6 billion in the two projects it would implement in Sokhna Port.
“This is a strong indicator of the economic feasibility of the two projects,” the minister said.
“It also embodies confidence in the Egyptian economy,” he added.
He expected direct revenues from the two projects to amount to $5 billion during its contract period of 30 years.
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