Pope Tawadros II stressed that the new Suez Canal, to be inaugurated on August 6, is a great accomplishment that is almost viewed as a miracle.

"We have to be proud of this achievement in front of the entire world, not only among our generation but among the next ones to come also," Tawadros said in an editorial in Al Keraza Magazine released by the Orthodox Church.

He said this is the first giant development project to be opened by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi since his election as the president of the country.

It was financed by Egyptians who collected 64 billion dollars in eight days.

Planning, good preparation and well-timed implementation are keys to the success of any project, the pontiff said.

The enlarged canal will allow ships to sail in both directions at the same time over much of the canal's length.

This is expected to decrease waiting hours from 11 to 3 hours for most ships and to double the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships a day.

The construction of the new canal was initially scheduled to take three years but President Abdel Fattah El Sisi gave orders to complete the project in one year only.

Revenues from the Suez Canal are expected to jump from 5 billion dollars to 12.5 billion dollars annually.
Source: MENA