Letter from Cairo thrid Edition August,2015

Transcription

letter from
Cairo
Bi-monthly Perioidical/thrid Edition/August,2015
Egypt Changes
the World MAp
1
Thrid Edition / August, 2015 "Special Edition"
Table of contents
Letter from Cairo
A Bi-Monthly Periodical released
in different languages on the
current political, economic, and
cultural developments in Egypt
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in the
p4
official inauguration of the new Suez Canal:
Issued by Foreign Media Sector
State Information Service
Arab Republic of Egypt
Editorial
The new Suez Canal, a promise Egypt kept
The project showed the
world Egyptians' ability
to efficiently make
history.
Board Chairman
Ambassador Salah A Elsadek
The successful completion of the Suez Canal project is a proof that popular participation is a prerequisite for the success of government programs.
Egyptians are entitled to celebrate the completion
of the Suez Canal project. It is undoubtedly an enormous achievement, and has generated significant
enthusiasm from the outset, as well as funding by
bond holders in huge numbers. Finishing on time
and within such a short period has evoked the pride
and confidence in the country facing tough challenges given dedication, determination, and popular support. This "can-do" confidence is the main
cause for celebration among most Egyptians. It also
offers a lesson on the importance of popular participation and mass support as a prerequisite for the
success of government policies and programs.
This special issue documents the proceedings of
the opening ceremony of the new Suez Canal which
was attended by many dignitaries from around the
world, including the monarchs, presidents and heads
of government of Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait, Sudan, France, Russia, Ethiopia, Angola,
Lesotho, Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Tanzania, China and Switzerland.
p7
Egypt shares new Suez Canal celebrations with world leaders
Editor-in-Chief
Abdel Mo'ti Abu Zeid
Editors
Nashwa Abdel Hamid
Mostafa Ahmady
p 8
Al-Mahrousa yacht sails
Layout
Nisreen Ahmed
through Suez
Canal for the third time.
p 21
Operetta Beladi
by Egyptian children
2SIS Website: http://sis.gov.eg
Email: letterfromcairo@gmail.com
3 Letter From Cairo
- third Edition/ August 2015
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi in the official
inauguration of the new Suez Canal:
0 The project showed the world Egyptians' ability
to efficiently make history.
0 The New Suez Canal is first of one thousand steps.
4 Letter From Cairo
President Abdel Fattah
El Sisi gave a speech during the opening of the new
Suez Canal, in which he
asserted that the Egyptian
people proved their ability
to make history and cross to
the future for the progress
and prosperity of the entire
humanity.
Aboard the 150-year-old
Al-Mahrousa yacht and in
full military regalia, President Abdel-Fattah El Sisi
sailed down the new Suez
Canal to signal the start of
inaugural celebrations of the
waterway on 6 August. Sisi
later changed into a suit, but
the military uniform was a
nod to the Armed Forces
for helping dig the canal in
one year. As the once royal
vessel made its way to the
main pavilion carrying Sisi
and foreign dignitaries and
Egyptians representing different strata of the society
helicopters hovered in the
sky flying the flags of Egypt
and various Armed Forces
branches.
A group wearing
Pharaonic customs standing on the bank trumpeted
an Ancient Egyptian salute, and hundreds of attendees, housed under
massive tents, exploded in
applause.
Women ululated, children sang national songs,
crowds chanted ‘Long Live
Egypt’ and waved the Egyptian flag, cargo ships sailing
through the new Suez Canal
blew their horns, fireworks
in the colors of the Egyptian flag lit up the sky, and
5 Letter From Cairo
fighter jets flew overhead
– including Rafales from
France and F16s from the
US. The ceremony turned
out to be everything it was
purported to be.
“Egypt will always remain the meeting point that
brings East and West together, a role it has always
served throughout its history,” said Sisi. He thanked
everyone who participated
in the mega endeavor, and
saluted the Egyptian people for their patriotism by
heeding the call to raise 8.4
billion in just eight days to
fund construction. He also
remembered the fallen in
Egypt’s war on terrorism.
“We dedicate this incredible
achievement to the souls of
Egypt’s martyrs,” said Sisi.
Sisi noted that the impact
of opening the new Suez
Canal on maritime traffic
goes beyond political and
economic goals. Nonetheless, work will continue to
develop the region around
the canal, and most notably
East Port Said. The development of the canal area
includes establishing an international economic zone
with several ports, new cities, logistical and trading
hubs that will increase commerce between Egypt and
the world.
Sisi urged for the momentum and enthusiasm to continue. “This is the first step
of one thousand steps,” he
reiterated. Work will begin immediately to expand
and develop East Port Said
harbor and construct an in-
dustrial zone around it. In
addition, the area’s infrastructure will be upgraded
and linked to other projects
underway.
Egypt also has other big
plans not related to the
Suez Canal. These include
a sprawling national road
network, reclaiming one
million feddans and building a number of new cities
to accommodate population
growth. "Egypt is a great
country and has a civilization of 7,000 years," the
president said in his speech.
"I want to say that Egypt
throughout these years had
provided values, principles
and ethics, which were in
harmony with the heavenly
religions and did not contradict them," he added.
"Egyptians have made
a huge effort so as to give
the world this gift for development, construction and
civilization," Sisi said at the
ceremony. Egyptians, he
added, "showed their ability
to efficiently make history
and leap to the future for the
prosperity of humanity."
During the ceremony
marking the new Suez Canal project inauguration,
President Abdel Fattah El
Sisi gave the green light
for starting the project and
greeted the martyrs of the
Armed Forces and police,
as well as the civilians who
lost their lives in terrorist
operations. He also called
for greater unity – pointing
to the presence of senior
figures from both Al Azhar
and the Coptic Church.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi signs document
of operating new Suez Canal project
President Abdel Fattah
El Sisi signed on August
6 the document of operating the new Suez Canal
project. “In the name of
God, the Most Gracious,
the Most Merciful. By the
blessings of God, I, AbdelFattah El Sisi, the President
of the Arab Republic of
Egypt, officially open the
new Suez Canal,” were the
closing words of the president’s brief speech. Before
that, Sisi talked about the
enormity and significance
of the new waterway, but
also stressed the tasks still
ahead for Egypt. Among
these is its battle against
terrorism which also serves
all of humanity.
The signing ceremony was attended by a number of world heads of state including French President Francois Holande, the kings of Jordan and Bahrain, as well as the Emir of Kuwait and the
presidents of Yemen, Palestine, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Niger and Mauritania.
Also attending were the prime ministers of Ethiopia, Tanzania, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia
and Mali along with delegations from 70 countries. Other symbolic figures in attendance included
Gihan El-Sadat, widow of late President Anwar Al-Sadat.
6 Letter From Cairo
Egypt shares new Suez Canal celebrations with world leaders
In an event filled with celebrations
and national fervor, Egypt witnessed
the much-anticipated opening of the
new Suez Canal. The ceremony began with a naval flotilla, and was attended by a number of high profile
figures from across Egyptian society
and the international community. Notable attendees were French President
Francois Hollande, King Abdullah of
Jordan and Bahrain’s King Hamad
bin Isa Al Khalifa. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Kuwait’s Emir
Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah and
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras
also attended,as well as Yemen’s exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour
Hadi and Sudanese President Omar alBashir.
The list of international figures attending the ceremony of the new Suez
Canal project, also included dozens
of Arab leaders, especially Gulf State
7 Letter From Cairo
leaders, as well as African presidents
and prime ministers, along with some
high profile European delegations. UK
Defense Secretary Michael Fallon represented Prime Minster David Cameron at the ceremony, along with Ambassador John Casson. Italian Defense
Minister Roberta Pinotti participated as
well as Russian Prime Minster Dmitry
Medvedev. The US was represented by
a congressional delegation as well as
its ambassador in Cairo Stephan Beecfort.
Gulf countries guests include king of
Bahrain, Hamed Bin Isa Al-Khalifa,
Kuwait›s Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad AlJaber Al-Sabah, United Arab Emirates Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed Bin Zayed, Dubai’s
ruler and Prime Minister, Mohammed
Bin Rashid and Saudi Deputy Crown
Prince Mohamed Bin Salman.
Al-Mahrousa
yacht sails through Suez Canal for the third time
Admiral Mohab Mamish:
New Suez Canal
is Egypt’s
first mega project
in the 21st century.
Head of the Suez Canal Authority
(SCA) Admiral Mohab Mamish
highly lauded the Egyptian people who created “a new history
of challenge and struggle”, constructing the New Suez Canal in
only a year.
In his speech during the inauguration ceremony, Mamish praised
Egyptians for making history and
the unprecedented cooperation
between military and civilians
to complete the feat in one year
instead of three. “The new Suez
Canal is an initial step towards
Egypt’s comprehensive development, particularly in the Suez Canal Axis development project,”
8 Letter From Cairo
said Mamish.
Mamish hailed the January 25 and
June 30 revolutions that brought
the Egyptians a climate of freedom and dignity. The Egyptian
people supported the country’s
leadership and government in this
project, he said, pointing out that
Egypt is celebrating its biggest
project in the 21st century.
Aboard the 150-year-old Al-Mahrousa yacht
and in full military regalia, President AbdelFattah El Sisi sailed through the new Suez
Canal to signal the start of inaugural celebrations of the waterway on 6 August. The presidential yacht was the first ship to cross the
Suez Canal in 1869, and is the first vessel to
pass through the new extension on August 6.
At the heart of the preparations for the celebrations of the new Suez Canal waterway on
August 6 the 150-year-old presidential yacht,
El-Mahrousa, stands out because of its long
association with the Suez Canal. The yacht
earned its spot in Egyptian history when it
became the first ship to pass through the Suez
Canal after the waterway was opened in November 1869. Aboard the ship were Egypt›s
ruler Khedive Ismail and a number of royal
guests. The ship is the oldest active yacht in
the world, and the seventh largest.
El-Mahrousa is still in service, and on August
6 it carried President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi
and his guests from all over the world along
the new waterway, the largest-ever addition
to the canal.
Many Egyptians still associate El-Mahrousa
with the Suez Canal and with Egypt’s former
royal family, but the history of the ship goes
beyond those associations. The story of the
yacht began in 1863 when Egypt’s ruler, Khedive Ismail, ordered the British shipbuilding
pioneers the «Samuda» brothers, who were
Mamish lauded the efforts of
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi as
well as the “unprecedented cooperation between the military and
the Egyptian people” to get the
giant project implemented in a
year.
9 Letter From Cairo
based in London, to build him a royal yacht.
The luxurious vessel was designed by Oliver
Lang, who designed Queen Victoria’s first
steam yacht, with the aim of being a state-ofthe-art ocean-going steamer.
In August 1865, the 411-foot and 5-floor vessel was handed over to its Egyptian crew,
who sailed it from the River Thames to Alexandria. Two years later the yacht embarked
on its first official mission, transferring Egyptian troops to aid the Ottoman forces that
were cracking down on the Cretan revolt in
Greece.
The strong historical bond between the yacht
and the Suez Canal began in 1869, before the
canal was opened. Early in the year Khedive
Ismail took his yacht on a tour of Europe to
invite kings, queens and emperors of the continent to attend the inauguration of the Suez
Canal. In November 1869, El-Mahrousa became the first ship to officially pass through
the newly inaugurated waterway. Onboard
alongside the khedive was Eugénie de Montijo, empress of France and wife of Napoleon
III, who gave the khedive a piano as a gift.
It is still located on the yacht today. Other
well-known figures who have been on board
include Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran; King
Abdelaziz Al-Saud, the founder of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Josip Tito, ruler of Yugoslavia, and Menachem Begin, Israeli prime
minister.
A witness to Egypt's modern history
In a small note of historical irony,
the yacht in 1879 carried the man
who commissioned its construction, Khedive Ismail, to his exile in
Italy, after he was ousted by his son
Khedive Tawfik. In 1914, the ship
played the same role once again,
taking Khedive Abbas Helmi II to
his exile in Turkey. On 26 July
1952, when El-Mahrousa carried
the last king to rule Egypt, Farouk
I, and his infant son, Ahmed Fouad
II, to their exile in Italy, thus witnessing the final chapter of the royal dynasty of Mohamed Ali.
In the newly founded republic, ElMahrousa was renamed El-Horreya, meaning freedom, but the new
name was little-used by ordinary
people. Assigned to the Egyptian
navy where it was docked at Ras
El-Tin naval base in Alexandria,
El-Horreya continued to play an active role, including transporting late
president Gamal Abdel-Nasser to
many places.
The yacht was also frequently used
by late president Anwar El Sadat on
important events and trips. In June
1975, the ship was once again the
first to pass along the Suez Canal at
the huge celebrations marking the
reopening of the channel for naval
movement following its closure after the 1967 and 1973 wars. In September 1979, Sadat made a famous
trip to Yafa aboard El-Horreya, during the peace talks between Egypt
and Israel. In December 1980 Sadat made one final trip on board
the ship, as it was the first vessel to
pass through the newly inaugurated
expansion of the Suez Canal.
Under former president Hosni
Mubarak, the ship was less active.
Instead, the Egyptian navy would
use it in ceremonies to mark the
graduation of students from the
naval academy. In 2000, Mubarak
decided to change the name of the
ship back to El-Mahrousa.
Renovating El-Mahrousa
The five-floor yacht has undergone major alternations in its 150
years. In 1872, it was lengthened by 40 feet. In 1905, it was subject
to a major rebuild in Scotland where it was lengthened by another
16.5 feet and its two paddle-wheels were replaced by steam turbines.
In 1912, a telegraph was installed on the ship. In 1919 El-Mahrousa
underwent another major alternation in UK, so that it was powered
by diesel oil instead of coal. This required that the ship be lengthened for a third time, this time by 27 feet
10 Letter From Cairo
Sisi accompanies representatives
of Egyptian society aboard al-Mahrousa
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi
greeted the attendees of the new
Suez Canal opening celebrations
while being aboard El-Mahrousa
yacht during its sail in the waterway. Nine-year-old cancer patient
Omar Salah had one dream: to
meet President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi
while dressed in military gear and
be invited to the opening of Egypt’s
New Suez Canal. On August 6, that
dream came true as both international and local media aired video
footage of the young boy waving
the Egyptian flag with President
Sisi on his side a-board the Presidential Yacht El-Mahrousa. Omar
waved the flag as the yacht sailed
through the New Suez Canal ahead
of the official opening ceremony.
The move was hailed for its promotion of the battle against cancer in
Egypt.
The guests accompanying El-Sisi
aboard El-Mahrousa yacht represent
different segments of the Egyptian
society, including Bedouins and Nubians. National flags could be seen
on the banks of the canal as the ship
passed, and young women wearing traditional folkloric costume
performed Egyptian dances, while
waving to the passing president.
The yacht was flanked by navy
warships as helicopters, jet-fighters
and military transport aircraft flew
overhead. A visibly triumphant Sisi
stood on the vessel's upper deck,
waving to well-wishers and folklore
dance troupes performing on shore.
One thousand artists participated in the celebrations marking the
opening of the new Suez Canal on Thursday 6 August Cairo. Opera House chose Egyptian composer Omar Khairat and the Triumphal March of Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Aida to be performed
during the celebrations.
The cultural segment of the celebrations opened with a concert
by Omar Khairat and orchestra, conducted by Nayer Nagui.
The compositions included a selection of Khairat›s best-known
works. Khairat is a reputed composer and pianist, whose original compositions -- which bridge contemporary Arab music and
western songs -- have earned him a large following in Egypt and
the region.
In the second half of the celebrations, Cairo Opera artists joined
by international soloists staged Triumphal March from Giuseppe
Verdi›s Opera Aida, an opera whose story is set in ancient Egypt.
opera Aida
Egyptian composer Omar Khairat
in the Canal opening ceremony
David Crescenzi conducted the orchestra. The scene comes from
the opera›s second act, when Ramades returns to the city to the
celebrations of his victory in the battle.
The scene opened with the choir, who represent the Egyptian
people, singing:
Glory to Isis and the land
By her firm arm protected!
To Egypt›s King elected,
Raise we our festive songs!
Opera Aida is among the best-known works by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. It was composed to the libretto by Antonio
Ghislanzoni and based on a story written by French Egyptologist
Auguste Mariette, who was commissioned by Khedive Ismail
Pasha. Aida was first performed at the Khedivial OperaHouse in
Cairo on 24 December 1871.
for the second time
Short films documenting
the history of the Suez Canal
After the celebratory naval flotilla, a
short film by Egyptian director Magdy
al-Hawary was played, documenting
the history of this stage in the canal’s
expansion, from the unique way in
which it was funded, to the project’s
excavation and construction. The documentary also emphasized the canal’s
status as a national icon, pointing to
the fact that the path to today’s opening was “planned by Egyptian minds
and Egyptian efforts.”
The film also pointed to the sheer
magnitude of the project. Indeed,
the $8 billion expansion, which had
originally been projected to take three
years, but was completed in just one
year, includes 21 miles of new channels cut through the desert, and expands existing bodies of water by 22
miles, making way for larger ships.
Other notable short films include
“Nationalizing the Canal” (duration
5 minutes) directed by Abdel Monem
Shoukry, “The Canal is back” (duration 13 minutes) by Mahmoud Sami
Attallah telling the story of the Suez
city after the glorious 1973 war and
the reopening of the canal, “ The Suez
Canal” (duration 13 minutes) produced by Nile News Channel and directed by Ezzeddin Said which documents the period from nationalizing
the Suez Canal in 1956 till the October
1973 victory.
There are also the 1995 documentary “Digging the Canal” (duration 22
minutes) directed by Ashraf Moussa
which depicts the struggle and sacrifices made by the Egyptian people
and “The Suez Canal and the Outside
World” directed by Nahed El Ibiary
which documents in 16 minutes the
events the Suez Canal witnessed, its
impact of the world being a meeting
point of the four corners of the world.
The Armed Forces Engineering Authority,
difficult tasks and determination to succeed
In his speech in the opening ceremony of the new
Suez Canal, President Sisi thanked “the martyrs who
have sacrificed themselves for Egypt and for its stability...army, police and innocent civilians” and all
those who participated in the project including the
engineering division of the armed forces, the armed
forces, and the Suez Canal Authority.
General Kamel el-Wazeer, the head of the Armed
Forces Engineering Authority, stood outside the city
of Ismailia, halfway down the course of the existing
canal less than a year ago on the banks of what is
now a second lane of the Suez Canal, saying that “the
entirety of Egypt and the whole world” will benefit
from this project». Trucks carrying earth rumbled
behind him, he told reporters that the new canal will
create “a million jobs for the Egyptian people.” Last
May, he announced that dry dredging process in the
New Suez Canal project has been completed.
The Armed Forces Engineering Authority had a
remarkable role during the 1973 war. Within the
first hour of the war, the Egyptian engineering corps
tackled the sand barrier “Bar Lev Line”. Seventy
engineer groups, each one responsible for opening
a single passage, worked from wooden boats. With
hoses attached to water pumps, they began attacking
the sand obstacle which evolved from a group of rudimentary fortifications placed along the canal line.
Israel developed the fortifications into an elaborate
defense system spanning 150 km (93 mi) along Suez
Canal, with the exception of the Great Bitter Lake
. The Bar Lev Line was designed to defend against
any major Egyptian assault across the canal, and was
expected to function as a “graveyard for Egyptian
troops”. The line, costing around $300 million in
1973, was named after Israeli Chief of Staff Haim
Bar-Lev. The line was built at the Suez Canal, a
unique water barrier that Moshe Dayan described as
“one of the best anti-tank ditches in the world.”
After 42 years the Armed Forces Engineering Authority dazzled the world once again as the project
was initially estimated to take three years, but President Sisi ordered it be completed in one year.
FEDCOC launches international campaign
to promote the new Suez Canal
The Federation of Egyptian Chambers
of Commerce (FEDCOC) launched in
coordination with regional and international federations an international campaign to implement a comprehensive
program for promoting investment opportunities in the Suez Canal Axis development project and maximizing the
benefit of international media coverage
of the opening ceremony of the new canal.
The campaign includes hosting promotional fairs and organizing specialized
conferences in Egypt and other countries among which are Lebanon, UAE,
Germany, Russia, France and Spain.
The FEDCOC also seeks to promote the
Suez Canal Axis development project in
a number of forthcoming international
and regional events in which it will participate including, the 4th Arab Investors Conference in Abu Dhabi, the 13th
Euro-Mediterranean Business Summit
in Barcelona where Egypt is named the
guest of honor, the 2015 International
Conference on Logistics and Transport
(ICLT) which coincides with the General Assembly of the Federation of African Chambers of Commerce and aims
to promote the African dimension of the
Suez Canal Axis and the 3rd EuropeanArab Summit slated for January 2016.
The New Suez Canal entered Guinness Records
Figures indicate that some 45000 workers have been deployed to the New
Suez Canal project as they used to work over the clock to finalize it by the set
deadline. More than 500 million cubic meters of sands were dredged, of which
258 million cubic meters were water-soaked sands. The project is expected to
enter the Guinness Records as the volume of dredging works hit 5.41 million
cubic meters of sands a month, or 125000 cubic meters a day, which is the largest ever in history.
Egypt's Suez Canal achievement shows
economic progress - But what about security?
Chris Wright
Excerpts from Forbes
Magazine
August 4, 2015
So what to make of the
opening of the Suez
Canal expansion in one
third of the expected
time?
Clearly, it’s good news
economically. The canal’s own officials believe that the expansion
will increase the number
of ships per day using
the canal from 49 to 97
by 2023, will generate
$13.2 billion by 2023 up
from $5.3 billion today,
and has achieved all this
two years ahead of time.
An $8 billion project
largely funded through
investment certificates,
it also demonstrated the
liquidity that is available
in Egypt for the right
investments (although
some would prefer that
this had been tapped for
a wider range of projects
than just the Suez Canal).
There is a sense that
stability has returned and
that an environment exists in which things can
be done: businesses can
grow, banks can lend,
and people can hope.
Euromoney this month
will carry my interview
with Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, the chief executive of
Commercial International Bank , Egypt’s largest
private sector bank. He
has seen it all in his dozen years at the helm, but
is firmly of the opinion
that the country is emerging from volatility in decent shape. “The worst
is very much behind us,”
he says. His own bank’s
results are improving
dramatically: between
the 2013 and 2014 financial years, market capitalization rose 52.31%,
pre-tax profits 32.56%
and total assets 26.43%.
There is some broader empirical evidence
to support this positive
view. Earlier this year
Moody's MCO -0.67%
upgraded Egypt to B3,
the first upward notch
after six downward ones
in the wake of the revolution. Egypt continued
to grow at 2.7% on average per year from 2010
to 2014 despite the volatility around it, partly
because it has an enormous (and statistically
invisible) grey market
economy which apparently never slowed. Earlier this year Moody’s
said consensus forecasts
were for 4.5% growth in
2015 and 5% in 2016, although there are continuing concerns about inflation pressures, foreign
exchange reserves, the
fiscal deficit, and government debt as a percentage of GDP.
Consequently,
those
who are hopeful of a
brighter future for Egypt
may well be right, and the
Suez Canal expansion is
a great achievement and
will help Egypt present
itself on the world stage
as a country going in
the right direction. But
it shouldn’t be forgotten
that its stability today is
fragile.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswright/2015/08/03/egypts-suez-canalachievement-shows-economic-progress-but-what-about-security/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/chriswright/2015/08/03/egypts-suez-canalachievement-shows-economic-progress-but-what-about-security/2/
Emirati Dredgers Chief:
Proud of finalizing
the New Suez Canal
Engineer
Yasser Zaghlol,
CEO of the National Emirati
Marine Dredging Company
confirmed that
Egypt is a timehonored nation
and any project
needs to be finalized within
the same spirit
as the new Suez
Canal. Zaghlol
noted that the
Emirati
firm
and all the consortium partners are proud
of finalizing the
project before
the set deadline,
indicating that having that project
finished in less
than a year is
an exceptional
achievement
second to none
in the whole
world.
Asia looks forward to investment
opportunities in new Suez Canal
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El Sisi received a message from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on India's keenness to boost bilateral ties in all fields.
The message was handed over by Indian Prime Minister's Special Envoy and Road Transport Highways and
Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari during his participation
in the New Suez Canal inauguration ceremony. During their meeting, Gadkari hailed the New Suez Canal
project as a remarkable achievement, saying that India
pays great attention to investing in this mega project.
Sisi entrusted the Indian official with conveying his
greetings to the Indian prime minister, praising the historical relations binding Egypt and India, commending
the Indian experience in achieving economic growth and
technological progress and voicing Egypt's willingness
to strengthen bilateral ties in various areas.
India's Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya
said the new Suez Canal will boost stability, prosperity
and peace in the region. "Wrapping up this project in a
record time proves that the Egyptians are able to carry
out giant projects," the diplomat added. He hailed the
deeply-rooted cooperation and ties between both countries.
India sees Egypt as a bridge linking Asia and Africa,
Bhattacharyya reiterated.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi also received Chinese
Minister of Culture Luo Shugang, who doubles as the
personal envoy of the Chinese president. The envoy conveyed to President Sisi the greetings and congratulations
of the Chinese president over the inauguration of the
new Suez Canal. President Sisi highlighted the various
domains of joint cooperation; especially that Egypt will
shortly launch several development projects.
Azerbaijani Ambassador in Cairo Shahin Abdullayev
asserted that his country is looking forward to boosting economic and commercial cooperation with Egypt
following the inauguration of the New Suez Canal. Abdullayev greeted Egypt over the great accomplishment,
stressing that international trade will develop after the
inauguration of the new canal which will definitely increase Egypt’s revenues. He said that Azerbaijan has the
economic potentials and can cooperate with Egypt in oil
projects as well as other projects.
Navigating AIDA IV through new Suez Canal on opening day:
Marwa El-Selehdar reveals how
she became Egypt's first female shipmaster
As the government promoted
the new Suez
Canal
as
"Egypt's gift
to the world,"
Marwa
El
Selhdar, the
country's first
and
youngest female shipmaster, received
the good news. The
24-year-old would assist in navigating a naval vessel through the
new waterway during
the opening celebrations on 6 August.
“I never thought that
my dream would finally come true. I am
going to be part of the
inauguration as a second naval officer on
the deck of the training ship AIDA IV," El
Selhdar said, stressing that her participation as the youngest
and first Egyptian and
Arab female shipmaster would bolster the
image of the "civilized
Egyptian women."
“I was filled with
joousfear when I first
learned about my participation",
she added. A 2012
graduate of the Arab
Academy of Science, Technology and
Maritime Transport
(AASTMT) in the
coastal city of Alexandria, El Selehdar said
that becoming a shipmaster was a childhood dream.
Initially enrolled as
a student in the maritime transport department at AASTMT,
El Selehdar was later
encouraged to move
to the marine naviga-
tion department at
the school when
she found out that
there were no
rules that prohibit
females
from studying
to become shipmasters. Her determination to join
the marine navigation department was
further fuelled when
she heard that a female
student from the African Island of Djibouti
won a scholarship to
study at the department.
“I challenged myself
and asked for a transfer from the maritime
transport department
to the marine navigation department. Amid
a wave of refusals,
this was the battle I
had to fight in order to
achieve my dream,”
El Selehdar said. As
she joined a maledominated profession,
El Selehdar says that
her mother encouraged her as a woman
to continue on the path
she chose.
IMO Secretary-General: New
Canal a revolution in int’l trade
Secretary General of the International Maritime Organization Koji Sekimizu said the new
Suez Canal project is Egypt’s
gift to the world as it would have
a good impact on facilitating
the trade exchange all over the
world. Sekimizu noted that the
new Canal would assimilate the
expected increase in the move
of international trade in light
of the growing growth rates of
the exports of China and India
as well as Southern East Asia
in the years to come. He paid
tribute to Egypt’s achievement
of the project within only one
year, confirming that he never
had doubts over the country’s
capabilities of finalizing the
project on the deadline.
The new Suez Canal: Facts and Figures
• The new Canal was made as a parallel branch
to the main Canal, forming an island between
the two canals. There is a plan to launch a number of ventures that would create new job opportunities for the Egyptian youth.
• The new Canal stretches over 35 kilometers,
parallel to the current one.
• The main goals of the new Canal are to increase
Egypt’s national income, boost foreign reserves,
serve as a double two-way route along the waterway, and reduce waiting time, helping, in return, to bolster the volume of trade exchange.
• The revenues of the new Suez Canal are expected to hit 13.226 billion USD in 2023 compared to 5.3 billion USD currently.
• The new Canal project took 12 months to accomplish and it included deepening of current
expansions to be as deep as 24 meters at a water
level width of 320 meters at its widest point.
• The New Suez Canal is expected to nearly
double the daily average number of vessels that
transit from 49 in 2014 to 97 in 2023.
Suez Canal extension is a game-changer
The new Suez Canal
expansion, which was
officially opened on August 6, will be a gamechanger for the future
of global trade, the UK
Chamber of Shipping
has said.
The extension to the
canal has seen 72 kilometers of new canal created, parallel to the current
channel. The projected
included 35 kilometers
of dry digging and 37
kilometers of deepening,
As a result, the number
of daily transits will rise
from 49 to at least 85
over the next ten years.
With 90% of the
world’s trade moving by
sea, and the UK being
heavily reliant on trade
with the Far East, restrictions on transits through
the existing canal can
unnecessarily extend the
journey of imports and
exports.
The new capacity will
mean ships can move
through the canal when
they need to without delay – making trade more
efficient and allowing
for further economic
growth.
UK Chamber CEO
Guy Platten said:
“The existing canal has
done wonders for world
trade. But this extension
is akin to turning a Broad into a fully-fledged
motorway. More ships
transiting through the canal will provide a significant boost to the UK’s
trade with the Far East.
Mr Platten also said the
extension will ‘futureproof’ world trade:
‘The volume of trade
moved by sea will double in the next twenty
years, and dramatically
increasing the number of
ships being able to move
through the canal will
The Suez Canal in the eyes of the Egyptian art
The Egyptian art has been keen on documentation
of the most important historical events Egypt has witnessed over history. “The Bawabet el-Halawani” TV
series, produced in 1992, highlighted the Suez Canal
project which was implemented under Khedive Ismail.
Script writer Mahfouz Abdel Rahman detailed how the
Suez Canal was dredged, a process that led to the death
of more than 120.000 Egyptian workers then. On the
other hand, the cinema industry focused on other phases
of the Canal’s history, namely nationalization, occupation and navigation block at war times, where movies
such as “Port Said” (produced in 1957) showed the Tripartite Aggression on Egypt (in 1956). Later on, director Mohamed Fadel and script writer Mahfouz Abdel
Rahman made “Nasser 56” in the 1990s, a movie that
tells the story of the Suez Canal nationalization. At the
present time, Egypt is keen on documenting different
phases of the new Suez Canal project through producing a movie that tells the story of the Canal since it was
a dream at the time of the Pharaohs.
On inauguration day:
Egypt, zero crime
Like on the 6th of
October War in 1973,
the opening day of
the new Suez Canal witnessed a zero
crime Egypt as police
stations everywhere
in Egypt have not reported a single crime,
particularly homicide
and other violence
related crimes. During the opening of
the new Suez Canal,
people were busy celebrating the project,
enjoying the related
ceremonies.
The six tunnels: crossing gate into Sinai
General Kamel El-Wazeer, Head of the Engineering Authority of the Armed
Forces, who double as the
supervisor of the dredging
of the new Suez Canal, announced the digging of six
tunnels connecting the Sinai Peninsula to southern
Port Said and northern Ismailia. Economic experts
confirm that the digging of
six tunnels would have a
great impact on the Egyptian economy and lead to
bolstering the move of
trade exchange and eco-
would entirely depend
on sands and raw materials available in the Sinai
Peninsula, helping, therefore, to connect the Sinai
to other governorates in
Egypt. In addition, the Sinai would house up to 13
million people who are expected to use those tunnels
that allow for transiting of
trains, cars and trucks into
the region. That is the first
step towards developing
the Sinai Peninsula and
launching a major trade
exchange there.
Petrochemicals:
the promising economy secret
99 vessels transited the Suez Canal within 48 hours of operation
Two days after the official inauguration
of the new Suez Canal, 99 vessels transited the Canal, totaling 6.4 million tons of
loads. The north convoy that sailed from
Port Said included 26 vessels in addition
to other three vessels that transited during
the opening of the canal. Those vessels
totaled 3.3 million tons of loads, the larg-
nomic ties with different
countries in the world.
These tunnels would be
the crossing gate towards
the real development of
the Sinai. The digging of
three tunnels in southern
Port Said would facilitate
the transfer of goods and
raw materials through a
railway system. Three
more tunnels would be
constructed in the new city
of Ismailia, which would
be a home to the Technology Valley. Electronic
industries in that Valley
The Egyptian government gave the
green light to kick off the new Suez
Canal axis development project and
several industrial and trade zones. The
government is keen on building plants
for different industries, particularly the
petrochemicals, which yield in high
profits counting on exports. This industry would add lots to the Suez Canal
region in terms of providing many job
opportunities, thus reducing unemployment rates and opening new markets.
Petrochemicals industry is in need of
lots of ports and raw materials, oil, natural gas among others. Since the new
Suez Canal region would host many
ports, it would, therefore, help establish
such an industry.
est of which was a Hong-Kong flagged
vessel that transited from the north to the
south and it totaled 193.000 tons of loads.
Then, 45 vessels (23 from the northern
canal route, 22 from the southern one)
transited the canal, totaling 3.1 million
tons, the largest of which was a Danish
carrier that totaled 200.000 tons of loads.
The youth: a success story of the opening ceremony
The youth, drawn from different Egyptian universities, have been in the lead
to make the new Suez Canal project a success. They escorted all guests and
participants from Cairo, the capital city, to the Suez Canal location. They set
an example in solving all the problems that the attendants faced and they put
on a colorful white and blue outfit.
Operetta Beladi
made by Egyptian children
The children chorus
who participated in the
opening ceremony of the
new Suez Canal caught
the attention of the guests.
They were dressed up in
the Egyptian Navy Force
outfit, singing in English, French, German and
their mother tongue Arabic. They were trained by
teachers selected by some
language schools to perform in front of 6000 of
foreign and international
dignitaries. The lyrics of
the “Operetta Beladi” go
as follows:
“Beladi (My homeland)
is an anthem I say everyday while I salute the flag,
I would sacrifice my life
for my nation which is
the love each generation
lives,
Long live Egypt is uttered by every Egyptian,
When my homeland
calls for duty, I will answer the call,
My life is nothing compared to that of my country,
My homeland, you are
the most precious thing in
my life”.
Photo Mohamed Abd Elwahab
Luxor governorate
Photo by Hend Whdand

Letter from Cairo thrid Edition August,2015

Transcription

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