Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Saturday issued a decree to appoint Vice Admiral Osama Rabea as the new president of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA), replacing former president Mohab Mamish, and also appointing Yehia Zaki as the Chairman of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).
Sisi appointed Mamish as Advisor to the President of the Republic for Suez Canal corridor and port projects.
Mamish assumed presidency of the SCA in August 2012 and contributed to bringing the highest annual revenues totaling US$5.9 billion in 2018, compared to $5.6 billion in 2017 after the number of vessels which crossed the Suez Canal in 2018 increased to 7,0678 vessels with a record cargo of 4.268 billion tons.
The SCzone’s Board of Directors approved a budget of LE10.4 billion for the new fiscal year 2019/2020, as the largest budget for the authority since its inception, depending on the requirements of the investment process and for the implementation and processing of some areas with infrastructure and facilities.
The Suez Canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia, and serves one of the Egyptian government’s main sources of foreign currency.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
