The General Authority for the Economic Zone of the Suez Canal held, this morning, the celebration of its East Port Said port, which ranked tenth in the world in the field of container handling, on the occasion of the inauguration of the container terminal 2 commitment contract and the multi-purpose terminal commitment contract, in addition to celebrating the catering service. The ceremony was held in the presence of Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir, Minister of Transport, Major General Adel Al-Ghadban, Governor of Port Said, Lieutenant-General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, and a number of success partners of the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Board of Directors of the Suez Canal Container Company, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sky Ports Company, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of OCI global, and Executive Director of Peninsula Company.
The following is the text of the speech of Mr. Walid Gamal El-Din, Chairman of the General Authority for the Economic Zone of the Suez Canal, during the ceremony:
Ladies and gentlemen… Your Excellencies, guests of the Suez Canal Economic Zone
Lieutenant General Kamel Al-Wazir, Minister of Transport
Major General Staff Adel Al-Ghadban, Governor of Port Said
Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority
Mr. Lieutenant General Ashraf Atwa, Commander of the Naval Forces
Ladies and Gentelmen
It is my pleasure and honor to welcome you today at East Port Said, the largest port of the Suez Canal economic zone on the Mediterranean, to celebrate together the announcement of the new terminals commitment contracts and the start of the activity of supplying ships with (traditional and green) fuel.
There is no doubt that East Port Said Port is a success story, not only for the economic zone, but for the concerted efforts of all Egyptian state agencies and institutions.
Which was launched with the support of a political will announced by His Excellency President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in November 2015 from the heart of East Port Said, who had an insightful and wise vision that was reflected in unceasing support for the economic zone and continuous directives to all state agencies and institutions to provide various aspects of support to the efforts of the economic zone in developing its ports. And its industrial zones and permanent follow-up from his sovereignty to remove any obstacles in the way of achieving development.
Since then, the development battle began to achieve the Egyptian state’s vision of transforming the Suez Canal development axis into a global economic and logistical center.
Today, we celebrate together the achievement of East Port Said Port by reaching the tenth place in the world, as stated in the recently issued World Bank report in terms of the efficiency of container handling and infrastructure, in addition to receiving 80% of the total container transit trade in Egypt.
And this is not the only achievement; Not only that, but many achievements varied between declaring East Port Said Port in 2017 as the first green port in accordance with European Union standards and international environmental standards through the use of environmentally friendly equipment during the trading operations of some dry bulk goods.
After the opening of the July 3 tunnels in 2019, we conducted the trial operation of the new berths of the port, which enhanced the exports of dry bulk goods and general goods from East Port Said and North Sinai to foreign markets. The operation of the tunnels contributed to the ease of movement of people and goods from east to west of the canal and vice versa.
Here, the numbers speak of other achievements, as the volume of exports from East Port Said Port to foreign markets exceeded 15 million tons since the trial operation of the new berths, which contributed to achieving a boom in trading. The last fiscal year 2022-2023 also witnessed a remarkable growth in the port’s performance indicators, as it received 1565 ships, an increase 6.4% compared to the year 2021-2022, and the total number of rewarded containers is 3.6 million containers, an increase of 5.5% over the previous year.
Last year, we celebrated the announcement of the contract for the Suez Canal berth project for the handling of cars “Ro-Ro”, as well as the berth for grain and grain “Roots”. With cumulative investments of $500 million, the project will provide 1,000 job opportunities. Thus, the terminal will become one of the largest container handling terminals in the eastern and southern Mediterranean, with a total berth length of approximately 3,500 meters.
We also celebrate the announcement of the multi-purpose station contract for the alliance of Sky Logistics and Reliance companies, with a berth length of 900 meters, a trading yard of 380 thousand square meters, investments of 65 million dollars, and it provides 550 job opportunities.
By announcing these contracts today, in addition to the ongoing negotiations with the largest port operators to operate the remaining berths with a length of 1.5 km, the new berths of East Port Said Port are about to complete the contract for them in full to operate them. Its vital location and its proximity to the northern entrance to the Suez Canal as a gateway to Africa on the eastern Mediterranean and a window to European markets. This, in turn, is reflected in providing new job opportunities for Egyptian youth and attracting various investments to the East Port Said Industrial Zone. The industrial zone witnessed the launch of the national strategy for the automotive industry last year, and all of this contributes to strengthening the activity of East Port Said Port, which is witnessing a remarkable boom, especially as it aims to achieve added value for direct and indirect transit operations.
The success of the East Port Said Port of the Suez Canal Economic Zone was not limited to attracting more investments only, but witnessed the success of the process of supplying ships with conventional fuel in the amount of 950 tons. From here, the port also received the first container ship of its kind in the world that operates with green fuel. The port with green methanol in the amount of 500 tons last week.
In conclusion, I extend my highest thanks and appreciation to His Excellency the President of the Republic for his strong support and wise vision in advancing and supporting the Suez Canal Economic Zone with its affiliated ports and industrial zones. We also extend our sincere thanks to the Ministry of Transport, the development partner, and all thanks also to the efforts made by the Suez Canal Authority, the original partner of success. Thanks are extended to the Armed Forces. represented by the Navy, and we cannot fail to thank all the Ministry of Interior agencies, Port Said Governorate, and all state agencies and institutions for their constant efforts in supporting the region, as well as thanks to the development partners from the investors of the economic zone in East Port Said.