Italian Ambassador to Cairo Giampaolo Cantini said on Thursday the Suez Canal plays a pivotal role in global trade, describing it as an infrastructure route for the entire world, not just Egypt. Speaking at a discussion webinar organised by AlexBank, Cantini said 40 percent of the Italian trade volume passes through the Suez Canal, noting that the volume of goods that transit hit 30.6 billion tonnes with a value of €82 billion. The crisis the canal faced in March, which led to the closure of the shipping lane, contributed to obstructing global supply chains as well as many economic problems and this explains the importance of the canal and its vital role, the ambassador said. The initiative undertaken by AlexBank to conduct a study on the Suez Canal is not the only one, Cantini said referring to other studies made in Japan, Australia, the United States and the European Union, which confirms the importance of the strategic location of the Egyptian waterway. In 2018 the Italian embassy launched in cooperation with the Egyptian Ministry of Transport a number of workshops to improve the maritime transport system, Cantini said. He added that agreement would soon be signed regarding the role that the two countries could play in navigation, linking Europe and Egypt. There will be another initiative to be signed next July to develop relations in this field, the ambassador revealed.
