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UAE replaces Qatar as Egypt's partner on Suez project

Egypt has been coordinating with the United Arab Emirates on the Suez Canal project, amid growing public outcry at the lack of transparency surrounding it.
A man sits near a ship crossing the Suez Canal near Ismailia port city, 120 km (75 miles) northeast of Cairo, June 13, 2013. Revenue from Egypt's Suez Canal rose 1 percent in May from a year earlier to $438.1 million, Egypt's State Information Portal said on Thursday. REUTERS/Stringer  (EGYPT - Tags: MARITIME BUSINESS) - RTX10M8S
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CAIRO — The Egyptian government is looking to rely on United Arab Emirates' (UAE) funding and expertise in carrying out the Suez Canal development project. It needs this support to realize additional growth due to the project’s economic and strategic significance. The UAE would effectively replace Qatar, which faced popular objections amid accusations that the former government of deposed President Mohammed Morsi had sold the Suez Canal to Qatar. But protests and objections against the project have been ongoing as the government has maintained discretion in not announcing its details.

Egyptian Prime Minister Hazem el-Biblawi visited the UAE on Oct. 24 — his first foreign visit since taking leadership of the government — during which he received additional grants to the sum of $1.4 billion in addition to the $3 billion that had been granted by the UAE to Egypt after Morsi’s ouster.

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