A total of 25 international joint ventures (JVs) have applied to bid for the rights to take part in the Suez Canal Development Project, according to the project's technical secretariat chairman. Walid Abd Al-Ghaffar added that the door was now officially closed for the submission of new proposals. The companies included seven Egyptian multinational consulting firms operating in the transportation, industrial, logistics, energy, urban planning, maritime transport and administrative sectors. Al-Ghaffar added that the final contract will be awarded to the on 1 October, with the project's planning process set to take upwards of nine months. During this time, the successful company company will be asked to present a detailed outline of the various locations to be used for construction within the canal zone. Plans should also detail the chosen administrative model of the project, which must meet international standards, in addition to analysing the environmental impact the project may have on the region. A nine-member advisory team appointed to oversee the development of the project resigned in April, claiming that the government was moving forward with another project that was at odds with the team's, according to a statement the committee issued at the time. The statement also mentioned "possible damages" that may be inflicted to the northwest area of the Suez project. He further stated that any outline submitted should detail all sub-projects within the development plan, in addition to all investment opportunities expected to become available over the next 15 years. Preference and priority will be given to Egyptian companies in addition to those that employ large numbers of employees and seek to utilise and exploit Egyptian natural resources. He added that 90 international and Egyptian companies were invited to take part in the first stage of the bidding process, which began 3 April and ended last Saturday. Of these 90 companies, 25 took part, with six JVs later being chosen, according to each company's previous experience operating projects as part of a JV task force. The second stage of the bidding process, which began with the closing of the door for submissions and applications from companies, will attempt to lay out the terms and conditions of the project for those six seeking to continue bidding.
