New Suez Canal project to offer 1 mn jobs: Official

The new Suez Canal project -- aimed at expanding the existing vital waterway -- will completely eradicate unemployment in Egypt as it will offer nearly one million jobs, an official said Friday.

Suez Governor El-Arabi al-Serwi made the remark during the launch of the first phase of a social housing project in the city, state-run MENA news agency reported.

On Aug 5, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi attended the inauguration of the waterway to be dug alongside the Suez Canal.

It is meant to add an extra lane to the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important thoroughfares for trade, in an attempt to increase the number of ships using it each day.

The Suez Canal, which allows ships to travel from Europe to Asia without having to go around the southern tip of Africa, only provides for one-way traffic, with occasional room for ships to pass each other. The new lane would allow ships to travel in both directions.