Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa is scheduled on Wednesday to leave Manama, heading for Egypt, where he will take part in the opening ceremony of the New Suez Canal, the Royal Court said.

King Hamad will participate in the ceremony at an invitation received from Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.

The New Suez Canal project, to be opened on Thursday, was achieved within only one year in a third of the originally estimated time.

Sisi launched the project in August 2014.