Egypt to inaugurate new Suez Canal Aug 6

CAIRO, May 13. /TASS/. The new Suez Canal will be inaugurated in Egypt on August 6, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said in a televised address. "The dry digging in the new canal has been 100 percent completed," Sisi said late on Tuesday, adding that 65 percent of dredge works had been finished. He said many foreign leaders had been invited to the inauguration ceremony. On May 9, el-Sisi invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the canal's inauguration during their meeting in Moscow. Egypt announced the $8 billion project to build the new Suez canal and modernise the old warerway in August 2014. The Suez Canal, which carries about 10 percent of global seaborne trade, is a vital source of revenue for Egypt. The canal opened in 1869 is about 190 kilometres long. Read more