The Egyptian government is betting on trade movement through its maritime ports to confront the effects of the unrest in the Strait of Hormuz in recent months.

Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir stressed the importance of expanding the implementation of new projects in Egyptian and foreign ports to enhance their role in maritime transport. During the extraordinary general assembly meeting of the 'Egyptian Maritime Ports Company' on Thursday, he emphasized 'exerting all efforts to continue providing the highest and best global standards in maritime transport performance.'

Economic experts pointed out that 'the Egyptian government relies on investment in maritime ports to increase maritime commercial transport rates, benefiting from its geographical location and the Suez Canal,' and indicated that 'maritime transport is one of the country's foreign currency resources.'

On more than one occasion, Egyptian officials have spoken about their country being affected by regional unrest and the impact on navigation in the region's corridors, especially in the Strait of Hormuz.

According to official estimates, Egypt lost more than $10 billion in Suez Canal revenues.

The operational movement of Egyptian maritime ports recorded the reception of 221 ships in the first half of this year, with a total handling volume exceeding 500 thousand containers, according to the head of the 'Egyptian Maritime Ports Company,' Major General Abdel Qader Darwish. During the company's general assembly meeting, he said 'the growth rate reached 22 percent compared to the same period last year,' according to a statement from the Egyptian Ministry of Transport.

Egypt focuses on developing ports amid escalating regional unrest (Egyptian Ministry of Transport)

The Egyptian Transport Minister considered the 'Tahya Misr' multi-purpose terminal as one of the most important maritime transport projects that have been operated recently, and stressed 'the terminal's continued provision of the highest global performance.'

The government inaugurated the 'Tahya Misr' terminal at the Alexandria seaport on the Mediterranean coast in June 2023, and it includes handling yards totaling half a million square meters.

The government has pushed numerous investments in the ports and maritime transport sectors in recent years to enhance their economic role in partnership with foreign and local private sectors, according to member of the 'Egyptian Society for Economy and Legislation,' Walid Gaballah. He said 'the Egyptian government relies on investing in its geographical location on the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and the Suez Canal artery, to become a regional logistics hub for container handling.'

Gaballah, in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, believes that Egyptian ports 'have achieved a leap in maritime transport movement in recent years, and contributed to transforming into transit corridors for ships, not just container storage areas,' noting that 'the Egyptian government enhanced the role of ports by linking them to internal land routes, which supported connectivity between the ports of the Red and Mediterranean Seas.'

The maritime transport sector represents one of the foreign currency resources for the Egyptian government, according to economic expert Mustafa Badra. He said 'the map of maritime ports is fundamental to investment movement and expansion in the industrial sector recently,' pointing out that 'trade movement through Egyptian ports contributed to increasing export activity abroad.'

Badra believes, in statements to Asharq Al-Awsat, that 'infrastructure investments in Egyptian ports made them one of the solutions and alternatives to compensate for the navigation crisis through the Strait of Hormuz during the Iranian war,' and said that 'Gulf countries opened corridors with Red Sea ports in Egypt and from there to Europe as one of the bets that have been activated in the region to mitigate the supply chain crisis in recent months.'

Transport Minister Kamel al-Wazir on a visit to one of the Egyptian ports (Egyptian Ministry of Transport)

Egyptian ports have witnessed recent activity amid the supply chain crisis caused by the war on Iran, after increasing maritime connectivity lines with countries in the region, including the inauguration of the 'NEOM-Safaga' multimodal logistics corridor between Gulf Cooperation Council countries and Europe. The government also strengthened connectivity between GCC countries and Europe via the 'Ro-Ro' shipping line linking Damietta Port and the Italian port of Trieste.

Egypt has a map of maritime ports on the Red and Mediterranean Seas, and aims to develop them to improve their role in intra-regional and international trade. The Egyptian Ministry of Transport said that 'the process of developing all Egyptian ports aims to transform Egypt into a regional center for transport, logistics, and transit trade, and to increase the capacity of these ports to attract investments and accommodate the growing growth in trade movement.'