Egypt’s President Sisi directs to develop Lake Bardawil

CAIRO – 24 November 2022: President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi directed the Suez Canal Authority Chief Osama Rabie to develop Lake Bardawil as part of the initiative of Bardawil Sinai Development, in cooperation with DEME Group, said Egyptian Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady in a statement on Thursday.

These development efforts aim to increase the production of Lake Bardawil of high-quality fish from 4000 tons to 11,000 tons annually on the short term, and up to 50,000 tons on the medium term.

These efforts also contribute to the reclamation of agricultural lands and the enhancement of vegetation and afforestation in Sinai of an area of 15,000 square kilometers.

The president gave his comments in a meeting held with Admiral Osama Rabie to discuss the efforts made by the Suez Canal Authority and to be briefed on navigation rates in the Suez Canal, Rady said.

In this regard, Admiral Rabie confirmed that the new Suez Canal, which was opened in 2015, doubled the annual revenues of the canal which exceed $7 billion.

Moreover, the number of ships transiting the canal increased to reach about 70 vessels per day, contributing to efforts aiming to support the national economy and provide foreign currency.

The new Suez Canal also contributed to reducing carbon emissions from vessels transiting it by a total of 53 million tons due to the canal’s capacity increase and the reduction of transit time, thus supporting the canal’s efforts to become a green canal by 2030.

The chairman of the Suez Canal Authority briefed the president on the navigation indicators in the canal from the beginning of 2022 until now. This includes the numbers of passing vessels and cargo and container volume, which helped achieve record growth and a revenue increase compared to 2021 The revenues are expected to reach about $7.8 billion by the end of this year.