CAIRO: Suez Canal revenues reached $5.4 billion in the fiscal year 2014-15, with a $3.7 million increase compared to the fiscal year 2013-14, Youm7 reported Thursday.
This year’s revenues are the highest in the history of the canal with a slight increase than the previous year.
In May, the Egyptian Cabinet announced that Egypt’s revenues from the canal hit $3.267 billion during the first seven months of FY 2014/2015.
This fiscal year witnessed the beginning of work at the ‘New Suez Canal;’ a mega national project scheduled to be inaugurated on August 6.
All countries of the world leaders have been invited to attend the inauguration ceremony, Foreign Minister Sameh Shokry said Wednesday adding that Qatari and Turkish leaders are among the invited states.
The ceremony will be organized by the UK’s WPP Company for advertising and public relations.
The new 72-Kilometer long canal is established parallel to the current Suez Canal; it aims to speed up transit time and allow ships to sail into both directions at the same time.
So far, the dry excavation works have been completed. The Armed Forces announced that 98.4 percent of the dredging works in the new Suez Canal has been accomplished, Youm7 reported Thursday.
Launched in August 2014, the national project was given only one year for its completion, which was deemed by the government as an “important challenge” to revive the Egyptian economy.
The multi-billion project financed
only by Egyptian citizens through purchasing investment certificates, aims to boost annual revenues of the canal up to $13.5 billion by 2023.
The waterway, the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia, is a vital source of hard currency for Egypt, particularly since the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak and scared off tourists and foreign investment.
Additional reporting from Ismailia Mohamed Awad and Gamal Heragy