Egypt’s Sisi, CEO of Belgian DEME Group discuss dredging Alexandria’s Abu Qir Port

CAIRO – 9 September 2020: Egypt has contracted with Belgian DEME Group, a leading company in the fields of dredging and land reclamation, to dredge Abu Qir port, Alexandria, as President Abdel Fattah El Sisi met with the company’s chief, the Presidency said in a statement.

President Sisi said the project aims at raising the international ranking of Abu Qir port to become the first nationwide and making the port the biggest off the Mediterranean Sea.

This comes in conjunction with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Egyptian Naval Forces and Hutchison Ports to establish containers terminal at Abu Qir Port, with a capacity of two million containers annually, the statement said.

The new terminal is envisaged to have a positive impact on the country's maritime transport as well as training highly-qualified workers and securing job opportunities.

President Sisi hailed “professionalism” DEME is known for, urging the company to execute the port project in accordance with the latest technological systems and highest international standards, in order for the port to become another addition to the series of ports extending along the northern Egyptian coast.

For his part, Luc Vandenbulcke, chairman of DEME group, lauded the promising investment opportunities in Egypt, especially concerning upgrading ports, benefiting from the improvement of economic conditions and efforts to develop infrastructure.