Thursday was declared a public holiday in Egypt, state television broadcast shots of the new Suez canal to the theme tune of US TV series Game of Thrones in an extravagant
celebrations of the inauguration of a major extension of the Canal.The main waterway has been deepened and a 35km
parallel channel opened to increase capacity to 97 boats per day.
Costing
more than seven billion euros, the project was completed in just one
year instead of three on the orders of President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi.The
former army chief sailed to Ismailia to join the leaders of France,
Russia and Gulf Arab states for the ceremony.The expansion aims to
boost the economy which has been reeling from years of turmoil since
the Arab Spring.
