President Sisi follows up on Suez Canal Authority activities

CAIRO – 2 January 2023: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has directed officials to continue the development strategy of the Suez Canal to boost its distinguished location as a vital waterway for the global trade movement and a pillar for national economy.

This came during the president's meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and head and the Suez Canal Authority Osama Rabie to follow up on the canal's activities, said Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady.

The meeting tackled the indices of the global navigation movement through the canal over the past three years, said the spokesman.

Rabie said the number of ships that transited the canal in 2020 reached 18,830 and jumped in 2022 to 23,583 harvesting nearly 8 billion dollars in 2022 with an increase of 25 percent over 2020.

Rabie explained the canal's efforts to develop its fleet including multi-use tugboats, some of which were made in cooperation with the foreign and local private sector.

They reviewed the expansion of the canal and the extension of its depth to improve the international navigation movement