CAIRO, Egypt — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has announced an ambitious project to dig a new canal parallel to the Suez Canal to develop and stimulate international maritime traffic through the area. Questions have been raised, however, about the Egyptian government’s ability to complete the job in only one year, as well as the economic feasibility of the project, since the state has been suffering for three years from a financial and economic crisis affecting all state institutions and sectors.
The new canal, which Sisi announced during a ceremony held Aug. 5 and assigned to the armed forces, is expected to be 72 kilometers (44.7 miles) long, and the project will involve 35 kilometers (21.7 miles) of dry digging and 37 kilometers (23 miles) of expansion and deep digging. The estimated cost is $4 billion under the purview of the Suez Canal Corridor Development Project. The government is depending heavily on the project to jump-start Egypt's sagging economy.