Minister of Transport Hisham Arafat said that the coming period will include the enactment of new legislation allowing investors to partner with the state on railway projects, and that the ministry is looking to transport 25m tonnes of goods by railway in 2022.
“We in Egypt lost much time because of wars and delay in upgrading the transport system, but today there is political will, as well as a real vision being achieved and constantly developed to promote the transport system and logistics in Egypt,” Arafat said. “The ministry is working to support trade through several plans and objectives, foremost of which is the establishment of axes on the Nile to connect the east of the Nile to the west, support national projects such as the 1.5m feddans project through a modern road network. This is in addition to establishing river ports, as well as the establishment of dry ports and the development of seaports.”
Arafat explained that Egypt carried 1.6m tonnes through the Nile in 2011, and now there has been an increase that has jumped by more than 4m tonnes, and there is a desire for a greater increase.
He pointed out that the regional ring road—which will be completed in five months from now—will increase the efficiency of the road system in Egypt, and the ministry has 10 projects to establish dry ports and logistics areas, starting in Sixth of October, and the government is working to overcome obstacles to the rest of the ports to begin work.
He noted that Egypt has completed the implementation of 5,000 kilometres of roads and the development of 2,000 kilometres within the national road project, in cooperation, for the first time, with the Armed Forces Engineering Authority and the Ministry of Housing. The alliance constructed nine bridges on the Nile at the same time, and is scheduled to begin the construction of two more bridges in the coming year.
He said that railways transported 5m tonnes this year while the ministry aims to transport 25m tonnes in 2022 through the development of fleet vehicles and tractors.
The minister stressed that the most important step now is to amend the legislation that allows Egyptian and foreign private companies to enter into partnership with the government in the railway system.
It then remains for the State Council to review the law and prepare it for submission to parliament to give investors opportunities to invest in the government’s port project, as the government seeks to develop its piers.
