Will Egypt be able to dredge up support for new Suez canal?

Officials say they are confident the new Suez Canal will be a moneymaker, but they’re working hard to promote it with an eye on its competition.
Mohab Mameesh, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority ,talks to state TV as he checks work at the New Suez Canal, Ismailia, Egypt, July 25, 2015. The first cargo ships passed through Egypt's New Suez Canal on Saturday in a test-run before it opens next month, state media reported, 11 months after the army began constructing the $8 billion canal alongside the existing 145-year-old SuezCanal. Mameesh told state television that this test-run had been a success and that more would follow. REUTERS/Stringer - RTX1L
Mohab Mameesh, chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, talks to Egyptian state TV as he checks work at the New Suez Canal, Ismailia, Egypt, July 25, 2015. - REUTERS
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Walaa Hussein
@walaahuseen
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ISMAILIA, Egypt — Five months after the new Suez Canal opened, Egypt is kicking off a grand promotional campaign, starting with “Opportunities and Challenges,” a global navigation conference set for Feb. 22-24 in Cairo. 

Realizing that the canal faces competition from other shipping routes, the Suez Canal Authority will begin marketing on an international scale, chairman Mohab Mamish said at a Jan. 17 news conference in Ismailia.

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