French newspaper: faint celebrations of the 150th anniversary of the Suez Canal

The French Canal Lacroix said that the Suez Canal, which opened with great pomp on November 17, 1869, in the presence of the Empress of France; this year celebrates the 150th anniversary of its establishment in Egypt, but faintly and at the lowest cost, which is a break with its long history amid the turmoil of the East Middle.

The French newspaper pointed out that the design of this huge project was aimed at linking the Red and Mediterranean Bahrain, at the initiative of French businessman and diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps, between 1859 and 1869, with the participation of one million Egyptians, and participated - according to the current Egyptian authorities - about one million Egyptians Thousands of them died during the project.

One of the most difficult moments of the Suez Canal was the nationalization of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1956, which led to an international crisis, which led to a war declared by Israel, France and Britain on Egypt.

The channel also witnessed several wars and years of inactivity, especially as it was the front line during the wars of 1967 and 1973, and was damaged and closed several times, before being cleared and rehabilitated.

She explained that this new sea route, which does not exceed 164 km in length, is one of the main economic assets of Egypt, where revenues amount to several billion dollars each year, and pass through about 10% of international maritime trade.

Despite this long history and great significance, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, who inaugurated the New Suez Canal in 2015 by doubling part of the waterway, does not appear to be staging celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the construction of this great canal.

Postage stamp and seminar

The grand celebrations, banquets and horse races that took place at the opening of the canal in 1869 seem to have no place other than history books, especially since the events commemorating the annual canal are limited.

However, a postage stamp was created with the statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps in Egypt and France. A seminar on the canal as a "place of memory" is scheduled for November 13 at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the opening of a canal museum in Ismailia in the historic building of the Suez Canal Company.

"Each side writes history in its own way," said French ambassador to Egypt Stephane Roumitet, who described the channel as "a French-Egyptian adventure". "The history of the channel for Egyptians starts in 1956," he said. French Press.

Arnaud Ramier de Fortanier of the Ferdinand de Lesseps and Suez Canal Memento Association says the subject is "fairly accurate" because the "1956 issue was not good" for the French, and because the Egyptians rather than talk about the canal's birthday would prefer to emphasize its performance.

For the Egyptian economy struggling to recover from the crisis resulting from years of political instability after the 2011 revolution, the income of the canal is important, pointing out that the Suez Canal Authority announced that it reached $ 5.9 billion for the fiscal year 2018-2019, an increase of 5.4% YoY.

However, Jean-Marie Musk, a professor at the University of Paul Valerie Montpellier, a specialist in maritime transport, believes that the channel expansion, although increased the capacity of transit load and the speed of transport; it weakened its competitiveness by increasing the prices of transit.