Egypt’s Sisi discusses expanding, developing Abu Qir Port with head of Belgium’s DEME Group

Ahram Online , Thursday 10 Sep 2020

The project will be a new addition to the chain of ports extending on the Egyptian northern coast

Sisi
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi during his meeting with Director General of the Belgian Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME) Group Lucas Bols in Cairo on Wednesday (Photo courtesy of Presidential Spokesperson)

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed on Wednesday with Director-General of the Belgian Dredging, Environmental and Marine Engineering (DEME) Group Lucas Bols a comprehensive project for expanding and developing Alexandria’s Abu Qir Port, the presidency said.

The meeting was attended by the Commander of the Naval Forces Lieutenant General Ahmed Khaled and a number of senior officials from the Belgian company.

DEME will carry out the dredging works in the Mediterranean port, the presidential statement added.

DEME is a world leader in the highly specialised fields of dredging and land reclamation, solutions for the offshore energy market, environmental and infra-marine works, with more than 140 years of experience and 5,200 highly skilled professionals.

El-Sisi praised the professional reputation of the Belgian company, stressing the value of this vital national project, which is part of Egypt’s plans to build a modern state.

The statement added that the president emphasised the importance of completing the project according to the latest technological systems and the highest international standards for the development and operation of ports, to represent a new addition to the chain of ports extending on the Egyptian northern coast, and to make Abu Qir Port the largest in the Mediterranean, in addition to raising the global classification of Egyptian ports to the first level.

The agreement with DEME comes in tandem with the recent deal with the Chinese company Hutchison to construct the largest container handling terminal in the region at Abu Qir Port, the statement said.

Bols hailed the promising investment opportunities in Egypt, especially those in port infrastructure renovation fields in order to benefit from the improvement in the economic climate and the efforts to develop the infrastructure that the Egyptian government has undertaken in recent years.

In August 2019, the Egyptian Naval Forces and Hutchison Ports signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a container handling terminal at Abu Qir Port with an annual handling capacity of two million containers.

Short link: