Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will meet in two weeks with Egyptian authorities to discuss funding the first phase of Cairo Metro Project's fourth line. Hideki Matsunaga - JICA's Cairo Office Chief Representative - announced that he would meet with officials from the Egyptian National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) to tackle plans to carry out the first phase of Cairo Metro's fourth line through a loan estimated at US$340 million. In a recent interview with Amwal Al Ghad, Matsunaga said he expected to ink the financing contracts and start implementation on the fourth line early 2016. JICA seeks to grant a soft loan worth US$340 million, with 0.2% interest rate that should be paid in 40 years, the Japanese official noted. This step emphasizes on the Japanese government's genuine willingness to invest in Egypt in the coming period. Furthermore, Matsunaga stated that the Japanese government is committed to participate in the Cairo metro project, clarifying that the current obstacle facing both JICA and the Egyptian Ministry of Transportation is not related to pumping those loans but to the implementation steps in the upcoming period. JICA's participation is not only in providing trains but also participating in construction works, civil works, and controlling systems and management, the Japanese official elaborated. The total volume of the project is worth around US$3 billion. The first phase of line 4 would be executed in the distance between Remaya square up to El-Malek El-Saleh station of line no.1 (16 stations, about 17 kilometers), while line4 will meet the route of line2 in Giza station for the service exchange between the two lines . The project includes a function of mass public transportation for reducing dependency on road traffic, expects 1 million 350 thousand users a day in the first year, 1.87 million users in 2027, and 2.5 million users in 2050, and it is expected to largely contribute to the reduction of the traffic congestion in Greater Cairo Region. In Cairo, where many tourists visit every year, this project is attracting much attention as a "Tourism" line which connects the center of Cairo and the pyramid district in 30 minutes or less.
