New Suez Canal project to boost Saudi-Egypt ties

(MENAFN- Arab News) A leading Riyadh-based planning design management and supervision consultancy has been awarded a major Egypt contract for the expansion of Suez Canal.

The Egyptian government awarded contracts to Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) and other Gulf firms worth $4 billion.

Company sources here said that Cairo has awarded major contracts for the construction of a parallel canal in Suez to companies from several Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states including firms from Bahrain and other GCC countries.

Dar Al-Handasah was selected among 14 bidders and would work with a prime contractor and the Egyptian Army to develop industry and logistics in the canal area.

The new expanded passage will span 35 km and is expected to be complete by 2016.

Under the $4 billion project Egypt oversees a second passage that would join with an expanded Suez Canal for better trade and to have a transformative impact on the Egyptian economy.

The new Suez Canal project is a giant engine for the Egyptian economy that will give it a strong thrust to potentially end recession and inability.

Infrastructure development will undoubtedly create a large number of jobs that will improve unemployment figures.

The Suez Canal an artificial waterway in Egypt extending from Port Said to Suez connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea made the country a passageway for one tenth of world trade with continuous revenues at hardly any cost.

Dar Al-Handasah meanwhile has served the public and private sectors working on projects with a total investment of $270 billion for over 50 years.

The group has consistently ranked among the world's top 10 engineering and architectural global consultancies for over 25 years sources said.