Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi recently announced that three yacht ports will be built using Suez Canal revenues to promote the national economy.
The three yacht ports along the canal will be financed solely by the Suez Canal Authority’s (SCA) income, without affecting the state budget allocations. The project is not a luxury, but rather a necessity in light of the yacht traffic crossing the canal throughout the year, said Sisi.
Sisi further noted that the ports are part of the state’s comprehensive development plan, both in the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, which would generate jobs and attract more tourists for a new type of tourism.
According to the SCA, the strategic waterway achieved $745 million in revenue, the highest monthly revenue in its history in August. Annual revenue for the 2021/2022 fiscal year amounted to $7 billion.
In late July, the Egyptian cabinet approved a bill regulating foreign yacht tourism in Egyptian marinas and seaports and creating an online platform, “Single-Window for Yacht Tourism,” which will supervise implementing and upgrading the yacht tourism strategy and ensuring its sustainability, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Ahmed el-Shamy, the maritime transport adviser to the Ministry of Transport, said that investing in the canal will also promote Egypt’s efforts to develop the blue economy, or the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, “which implies good investment in water resources, especially marine tourism.”
Also, he said, Egypt’s green economy continues to grow ahead of the global climate summit, COP27, which it will host in Sharm el-Sheikh in November.
