Investment in Sinai Peninsula will be exclusively for Egyptians, Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieddin told a business conference this week. "Egypt plans to build a $1 billion tunnel under the Suez Canal at Port Said and will begin seeking finance outside the State budget," Mohieddin told the Fourth Conference on Investment in the Canal and Sinai, which was held in Dahab in eastern Sinai. "The tunnel, to be built 19km south of the Canal's northern entrance, will have three passageways, one for rail and two for cars," he said. The conference was called to discuss investment in the cities along the canal and in the Sinai, which the government is keen to develop following a number of clashes between security forces and impoverished Bedouin tribes. "There is good co-operation with international investment funds to finance the project, which will be entirely financed outside the state budget," he said. Egypt now has two points for cars to cross the waterway -- a tunnel near the city of Suez and a bridge near Ismailia. Once the Port Said tunnel is completed, another tunnel is planned for Ismailia, the minister added.
