Economic Growth

6 facts about the second Suez Canal

Arwen Armbrecht
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

The first ships have passed through Egypt’s Suez Canal expansion in a trial run ahead of next month’s official opening. If completed on time, the $8.5 billion project will have been finished in only 12 months.

Egypt ranked 119th out of 144 economies in last year’s Global Competitiveness Report, and 97th out of 138 in its Global Enabling Trade Report. The canal expansion is intended to improve these performances. It’s also intended to address youth unemployment, a particular concern in a country where 60% of the population is under 40 years old. Egypt’s President Abdelfattah Said Hussein Alsisi told delegates at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting that once the expansion is open, “the second phase will entail developing the canal zone and opening the door for investment”.

Here are some facts about the Suez Canal expansion:

suezcanal2

Have you read?
What do falling oil prices mean for Egypt?
Which countries attract most venture capital?
A brief history of gold

To keep up with the Agenda subscribe to our weekly newsletter.

Author: Donald Armbrecht writes for the Forum’s Agenda website.

Image: A cargo ship is seen crossing through the New Suez Canal, Ismailia, Egypt, July 25, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Egypt

Related topics:
Economic GrowthTrade and Investment
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Economic Progress is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

How the Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation helped unlock opportunities for small businesses in Cambodia

Philippe Isler

November 14, 2024

Global economy responds to US presidential election and other economics news to read

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum