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               Egypt Awards Suez Project to Group Including Army

   by Reuters

   Egypt announced on Tuesday it has chosen a consortium, including the
   Egyptian army, to develop an industrial and logistics hub in the Suez
   Canal area.

   The Suez Canal is the fastest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
   It brings in approximately $5 billion in revenues a year, a vital
   source of hard currency for Egypt, which has struggled since a 2011
   uprising deterred tourists and foreign investors.

   In January, Egypt invited 14 consortia to bid for the development of
   76,000 square kilometers, or 29,000 square miles, around the canal.

   The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Mohab Memish, made the
   announcement at a news conference in Ismailia, a northwest Egyptian
   city beside the canal. Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab attended the
   event.

   "The winning consortium to create the master plan for the Suez Canal
   area development project" is the consortium of Dar al-Handasah Shair
   and Partners, in alliance with Dar al-Handasah Egypt," Memish said. Dar
   al-Handasah Shair is an engineering firm registered in Bahrain.

   The Egyptian army is a local partner in Dar al-Handasah Egypt through
   the Armed Forces Engineering Authority, a government source told
   Reuters previously.

   Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, former army chief, has said
   he would not hesitate to award major projects to the army that would
   help revive Egypt's economy.

   The Sinai peninsula, which lies on one side of the canal, has seen a
   rise in violence from Islamist militants in the past three years,
   prompting the government to launch an ongoing military campaign in
   which hundreds have died on both sides.

   Egypt's Gulf Arab allies have close links to the Egyptian military and
   have given billions of dollars in aid to the country since the army
   ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi last year.
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   cluding-army/2418369.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/egypt-awards-suez-project-to-group-including-army/2418369.html