Ambassador Amr Helmy, Egypt's Ambassador to Rome, said that the Egyptian-Italian Business Council has completed a comprehensive study on the economic impact of the new Suez Canal project on international trade and global maritime traffic, whereby economist Massimo D'Andreas stressed that the new project will significantly enhance the competitiveness of the Suez Canal, allowing it to absorb 25% of the commercial traffic that crosses through the Panama Canal. This is because the new canal allows for the passage of all types of cargo ships of various sizes, be they giant oil tankers or large container ships, which will encourage global shipping companies, particularly those responsible for regulating commercial shipping traffic between Asia and Europe, to pass through the Suez Canal instead of the Panama Canal. The study added that this mainly applies to the maritime trade of each of Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam and India with Europe and that this could also be extended to include a shift in the movement of goods between Hong Kong and New York, Shanghai and New York, as well as between Shanghai and Houston.

The study confirmed that the new Egyptian canal will increase commercial maritime traffic in the Mediterranean, which will reflect positively on European ports that will have to increase investment in their infrastructure to be able to accommodate the large increase in the number of cargo ships and oil tankers that are set to pass through the Suez Canal. 

The study, which described the new Suez Canal project as one of the world's most important strategic projects, added that this giant project, which comes within an integrated vision developed by the Egyptian government for the development of the entire Suez Canal region, will help attract more foreign investment to Egypt, which is also proposing an important set of economic projects that are set to enhance the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy and provide many job opportunities for Egyptians who aspire to a better future.

The Egyptian Ambassador explained that this study, which includes an important set of statistics on the movement and trajectories of oil tankers and huge container ships, has already been presented to various Italian companies, banks and credit agencies, bearing in mind there are current preparations for a senior Italian economic delegation to visit Egypt to discuss investment opportunities related to the development of the Suez Canal region. This will include both infrastructure development and the provision of logistical services. The projected investments are based on the belief that the Egyptian ports in both Port Said and Suez will become increasingly important, comparable in standing to the global ports in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Rotterdam, Jebel Ali, Naples, Genoa, Hamburg and New York.

source:  Egyptian Ministry of Foreign affairs Website