Mostafa Madbouly, Egypt's Prime Minister, convened a meeting on Tuesday to discuss measures to maximise transit trade and re-exportation. The meeting was held at the cabinet headquarters in New Alamein City and was attended by Minister of Transport Kamel Al-Wazir, Minister of Trade Ahmed Samir, and several other officials, as well as Chairperson of the General Authority of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) Walid Gamal El-Din, who participated via video conference. Madbouly stressed the importance of maximising transit trade in Egypt to leverage the country's existing ports and strategic locations. Al-Wazir highlighted the surge in transit trade and the movements that are driving this field forward, emphasising the importance of such projects. The Ministry of Transport's plan to transform Egypt into a global trade and logistics centre includes developing direct and indirect transit, which requires improving service levels and performance at maritime ports. This involves developing and increasing the capacity of ports in terms of length, depth, and platforms, using the best operating systems for station management, establishing dry ports and logistics areas behind ports and distribution centres, and forming logistical corridors based on maritime ports and linking them with railways, both regular and high-speed. Developing transit trade also includes contracting with international companies for station management and sea transport lines, providing incentives and long-term strategic partnerships with global shipping companies, and ensuring connectivity of Egyptian ports with all ports worldwide. The Ministry of Transportation aims to increase Egypt's share of transit trade in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean basins, as transit trade is an important and constant source of direct and indirect revenue in hard currency. To achieve this, the ministry has contracted with five international alliances to manage and operate five new stations. The main activity of the companies and alliances contracted with Egyptian ports will be direct and indirect transit trade as a global operator for regular shipping lines. The infrastructure of maritime ports is also planned to be developed by creating 65 km of new platforms at depths ranging from 15-18 m, reaching a total length of 100 km of platforms in maritime ports. The latest development is the opening of the Tahya Misr station at the port of Alexandria with platform lengths of 2.5 km. Wave barriers with lengths exceeding 15 km will also be created, and navigational channels will be deepened to receive large ships. Storage yards will be created inside ports to encourage direct transit trade and simplify customs procedures. The Ministry is also working on improving the work environment to reduce the time containers spend in ports and increase station productivity, developing customs systems, improving the performance of inspection and presentation authorities, and forming strategic partnerships with major industrial and commercial countries to make Egyptian ports a centre for transit, export, and re-export operations. The Prime Minister announced that there will be 15 dry ports and logistics areas established throughout the country, with the capacity to accommodate 6 million equivalent containers annually. The dry port in the 6th of October city has already been opened on an area of 100 feddan, and a storage and refrigeration area has been established within the land port of Sallum on an area of 21 acres. Currently, the dry port and logistics area in the 10th of Ramadan city, covering 250 feddan, is under construction. Plans are also underway to establish dry ports in Borg El Arab, Kom Abu Radi, Sadat, and Salloum.
