Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed an agreement worth KD26 million ($85.3 million) with Egypt to finance the a tunnel road in Sharm El Sheikh. The scope of works includes the construction of a road running about 350 km long to a six-lane asphalt road (three lanes in each direction with a width of 3.6 m per lane), a middle island with a width of 12.2 – 37.5 m, and side shoulders for each side 2.5 m wide and 0.6 m internally, said the statement from KFAED. The project also includes water drainage works, protection, and safety works, as well as consultancy services including detailed design, review and supervision of implementation, it added. The project aims to integrate the road network in the Sinai Peninsula and raise the level of safety of its use and reduce operating costs and transport time, thus contributing to the development efforts in project impact area besides boosting employment opportunities as well as access to education and health services for the population. Egypt and Kuwait also inked a framework agreement to finance the second phase of the Sinai development programme at a value of $1 billion up to 2022. Sahar Ahmed Mohamed Abdel Moneim Nasr, Egyptian Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, signed the agreement with Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman, board of directors of KFAED in the presence of the visiting Kuwaiti Premier Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah and Egyptian PM Dr Mostafa Madbouly. The Tunnel Road project is located in the Sinai Peninsula, and the road takes a north-south route along the west coast of the peninsula, linking Suez and South Sinai. It starts in Suez Governorate east of the canal at the intersection of Cross Road 1 with the road of the martyr Ahmed Hamdy tunnel, passing through rocky and mountainous areas, and ends in Sharm El-Sheikh, which is located in South Sinai, it added. Source: Trade Arabia
