President Sisi, seen here at the inauguration, personally ordered the canal's expansion
Egypt
has opened a major expansion of the Suez Canal, which deepens the main
waterway and provides ships with a 35km (22 mile) channel parallel to
it.
At the inauguration, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi
welcomed foreign leaders aboard a historic yacht as helicopters and
fighter jets flew by.
The expansion aims to increase the traffic handled by the canal.
Egypt's government hopes the revenues will revive the economy - but analysts have questioned the projections.
They
point out that the volume of world trade has not been growing at the
pace needed to deliver the sums Egypt hopes to collect.
Egyptians commenting to the international press on social network appear divided over the project, with many asking if the $8.2bn (£5.3bn) spent on the expansion could have been better deployed on improving infrastructure and public services. The new waterway is expected to boost traffic - and, Egypt hopes, revenues
Egyptians celebrated the canal's expansion in Cairo, watched by soldiers
The expansion will allow for
two-way traffic along part of the route, as well as for larger vessels
overall. The construction of the new lane began a year ago, on the orders of Mr Sisi.
At
the inauguration ceremony in the town of Ismailia, the president
appeared in military uniform and sunglasses aboard the El-Mahrousa - the
yacht that was the first vessel to pass through the canal when it was
built in 1869.
The
former military leader, elected last year as a civilian, welcomed
foreign guests including French President Francois Hollande and Russian
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Fighter jets and helicopters flew
above the ceremony. On the streets of Cairo, banners described the
expanded canal as Egypt's "gift to the world".
Pro-government
media have hailed the expansion of the canal as a national triumph, and a
turning point after years of instability. Helicopters fly past a sculpture at the newly opened section of the canal
Many stayed out in Cairo on Wednesday night, with Thursday proclaimed a national holiday
However, many analysts doubt if the new venture will deliver the anticipated benefits.
Ahmed
Kamaly, an economist with the American University in Cairo, told
Reuters news agency that the Egyptian projections were "wishful
thinking".
"There was no viability study done, or known of," he
was quoted as saying. He added that the immediate benefits from the
expansion were more likely to be political than economic, uniting people
"around a national project".
Takings from Suez could also be hit
by an expansion of the Panama Canal, due to be completed next year,
which will compete for traffic along the Asia-North America route.
Suez Canal project
$8.5bn
raised for canal expansion project
$13.2bn
projected revenue by 2023 (up from $5.3bn)
72km of new channel and bypasses
97 ships a day by 2023 (up from 49)
11-hour southbound transit (down from 18)
12 months to complete project by Aug 2015
Security was tightened for the inauguration ceremony amid fears of attack by militants allied to Islamic State.
The
militants, based in the Sinai peninsula, have killed hundreds of people
since the military overthrew the Islamist government of president
Mohammed Morsi in 2013.
The original canal currently handles 7% of
global sea-borne trade. The waterway connects the Mediterranean to the
Red Sea, providing the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe.
Its nationalisation led to a brief war in 1956, pitting Egypt against the UK, France and Israel.
