An increase in revenue from the Suez Canal project and its shares can be expected in two years, Minister of Planning and Administrative development said Ashraf El-Araby during a television interview late Sunday. The minister stated that announcements on shares' and bond purchases will be made for Egyptian citizens during the upcoming days. El-Araby said that finishing this project in a year is "not an easy mission". El-Araby noted that the revenues from this Suez Canal during the past fiscal year were around $5.2bn; the current project, he said, would aim to build a new Suez Canal that is 72km long with sections that involve new drillings and expansions. "After the project's completion, we [the government] are expecting to increase the $5.2bn revenues to over $13bn," El-Araby added. The minister stated that this stage of the project is what is expected to take a year to complete, adding that it is part of bigger project encompassing the "development of the Suez Canal as from Port Said to Ismailia and Suez". "There are five ports (in that area)," El-Araby said. "That is the bigger project which aims to achieve $100bn".
