President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi this week visited several development projects east of Port Said, including a sea port, an industrial zone and fish farms. President Al-Sisi listened to General Adel Al-Ghadban, governor of Port Said, who updated him on development projects implemented in the past 12 months. They include slum clearance programmes, the opening of several factories, establishing a complex catering to the needs of young entrepreneurs. Al-Ghadban referred to efforts to upgrade educational and medical services in the governorate, the latter aided by the selection of Port Said as the first governorate to implement the new comprehensive health insurance system which will be rolled out this summer. He also highlighted how 50,000 low-cost housing units had been built in the coastal governorate. A complex for small-scale industries, which includes 58 factories, has been established. Together with factories manufacturing power saving lamps and car tyres and a fish packaging plant, the complex will eventually offer 5,000 new job opportunities, said Al-Ghadban. Mohab Mamish, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority and of the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, reviewed the strategic importance of the area east of Port Said for the Suez Canal Economic Zone. Mamish says the site has been earmarked to become one of the largest container ports in the country. Ten per cent of the world's trade, and 25 per cent of all container traffic, already passes through the Suez Canal. Mamish reviewed ongoing efforts to develop the area. “The 461 square kilometre Suez Canal Economic Zone extends across the three Suez Canal governorates of Suez, Port Said and Ismailia, and will include six maritime ports to be finished by 2045,” said Mamish. “The president stressed during the tour that the development of east Port Said port and surrounding areas is part of a wider framework to develop Sinai,” said Presidential Spokesman Bassem Radi.
