Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated on Sunday the third edition of the Smart Transportation and Logistics Fair and Forum for the Middle East and Africa (TransMEA 2020), the presidency said in a statement.

The president toured the fair and listened to a detailed explanation from officials about its products, including vehicles and means of public transportation running on natural gas and electricity.

He also inspected vehicles equipped with specialised chairs for disabled people.

TransMEA 2020 comes as the country pushes ahead with expanding new smart cities and building modern transport systems to upgrade road networks and reduce travel time, transportation costs and fuel consumption, Egypt's presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said earlier.

Rady added that the country also seeks to boost trade exchange, reduce accident rates, and protect the environment.

TransMEA 2020 is being hosted at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre in Cairo from 22 to 25 November, with the participation of a number of international companies working in the transport field.

Egypt plans to scrap old and rickety cars manufactured over 20 years ago and replace them with new ones running on natural gas, as well as to convert hundreds of thousands of vehicles to gas-powered models, as per presidential initiatives.

The Egyptian strategy, which focuses mainly on microbuses and taxis, is meant to preserve the environment and make use of the country’s plentiful natural gas production.