To address the challenges and opportunities of the transport sector in Egypt, the Canada Egypt Business Council (CEBC) and the Egyptian Council for Sustainable Development (ECSD) hosted a panel discussion featuring H.E. Eng. Hany Dahy Minister of Transport. Previous ministers and governors attended the event. They included Khaled Hanafy, Dr. Khaled Zakaria, Mohamed Sultan, Moushira Khattab, and Adly Hussein. Ambassadors of Belarus, Estonia, Cyprus, Greece, as well as the Canadian Ambassador to Egypt Troy Lulashnyk were also in attendance. They were joined by CEBC and ECSD’s esteemed members, guests, businessmen and reporters. Engineer Alaa Fahmy, the former minister of transport also shared his experience and professional journey as he co-hosted the panel discussion.

In his opening remarks Eng. Motaz Raslan stressed on the importance of transport in order to achieve stability and growth. Naming the transport sector in Egypt its veins, he lamented Egypt’s deteriorating position when it came to this vital sector, despite all the elements Egypt possesses to make it a leading sector. He cited Egypt’s strategic geographical location, the opening of the new Suez Canal project, and the Nile River.

Raslan also highlighted the under utilization of the Nile River in the area of transport stating that river transport in the Netherlands accounts for 47 percent of total goods transported, while in Germany the percentage reached 20. In comparison in Egypt it astonishingly accounts for less than one percent.

Despite many efforts to rectify the position of the transport sector, he expressed that it remains to be one of the biggest challenges to the government, the average citizen, and business people alike.

Minister Dahy assumed the floor following the Chairman and gave the audience an overlook to all of the sector’s various institutions and sub-sectors including the railway system, Egypt’s ports, the metro system, urban roads, as well river transport.

With more than 12 organizations under the umbrella of the transport ministry, and over 150,000 employees in the ministry, Dahy noted that the ministry is in dire need of an operational and cultural shift. He started off by explaining the challenges the ministry of transport faces, since in most of its sectors, it is the one that undertakes infrastructure building, operations, as well as pricing the services to the public.

More challenging even is that the end price doesn’t cover the cost of infrastructure, operations, maintenance and repair etc. This unfortunately means that many sectors rely on the constant support and subsidizing from the government. He expressed his view that operations are supposed to at least cover the costs paid or at least break even.

The railway system in Egypt covers 9,500 kilometers, where the main tracks constitute 5,500 kilometers. In one year only, it is estimated that the railway system transfers 550 million Egyptians. Surprisingly more than 50 years have passed without any new extension to the tracks. The only exception was the recent extension of Beer El Abd with around 800 kilometers added to it. Calling it an aging sector Dahy said that more than 35 years have passed with no updates to the railway system. To add to the challenge, the past four years have witnessed premeditated attacks and deliberate sabotage of the railways due to lack of security.

Minister Dahy then explained that in most countries around the world that the transport of goods makes up the main revenue of the transport system, thereby compensating if there are any losses in the passenger transport section. He highlighted that transport of goods via the railway system doesn’t currently exceed 4 million tons, while in the year 2010 it had reached 12 million tons. The challenge to the railway system is two fold: an aging infrastructure and problems in carrying operations as well as maintenance and repair.

Despite extensive studies that have been done for years concerning infrastructure repairs, operations, railway extensions etc., implementation of these studies have been very few. One project, however, that is to see the light of day soon is the high-speed train to operate in 3 routes (Alexandria-Cairo, Cairo-Aswan, Luxor-Hurghada). Covering more than 1,300 kilometers of tracks, the high-speed trains are set to mark a shift in the transport scene in Egypt.

Concerning the metro system in Egypt, the minister assured that extensions to the third line are proceeding according to plan, while there are new plans to link the east of Cairo to the new capital project that was unveiled during the Egypt’s Economic Development Conference. With around 100,000 kilometers making up the roads in Egypt, urban transport is another key sector for the transport ministry.

Minister Dahy expressed that when it came to urban transport, the focus has lately shifted on improving the quality of the roads. He noted that fixing and maintaining roads while people everyday are using them is a huge challenge that they have to undertake.

He noted that the ministry’s latest projects included the Cairo-Alexandria road, and the Suez Road, where service lanes were introduced for the first time ever to cater to transport vehicles only, thereby freeing up traffic for passenger vehicles. There are 15 commercial ports in Egypt. Nine overlook the Red Sea, while six overlook the Mediterranean Sea. Despite this and combined with Egypt’s unique location, the minister expressed that the ports haven’t been used to their full potential. He noted however that master plans have been carried out to change that situation around. The new Suez Canal project, he noted aims to develop the entire area around the canal, which stretches to about 39 square kilometer. The aim he said is to have 40% of Egypt’s revenue generated from the Suez Canal and the six ports around its axis.

The minister also unveiled new reforms to the operation management of Egypt’s ports that would aim to increase performance and efficiency, while decreasing corruption. When it comes to river transportation, Dahy explained that it is the least costly transportation mode around the world. It also has an added benefit of being environmentally friendly.

He expressed that it is one of the ministry’s top priorities to facilitate the transport of goods as well as passengers in the Nile River in the upcoming period. He revealed that there is a plan in conjunction with the state of Austria to upgrade the infrastructure of the Nile River in order for it to be ready for increased transport.

He also revealed that the transport of a passenger project has had its routes for Greater Cairo decided and it will be given the title “Nile Taxi”. Very soon investment opportunities will be open for the project to be operated through the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) system. As for the transport of goods, a new system using electronically tracked routes and GPS is set to be utilized to facilitate the transport of goods in through the Nile. The floor was then opened for a lengthy questions session where a wide range of vital topics were raised such as how to bring investment to the transport sector, as well as problems and solutions regarding the traffic scene in Egypt.