Cairo- In a move that would reshape international trade features, US President Donald Trump reaffirmed what his predecessor put forward in 2023 from a new commercial corridor project, describing it as “one of the greatest commercial roads in history.”
The proposed road consists of two separate corridors, one of which connects India with the Arabian Gulf and the other connects the Persian Gulf to Europe.
This road extends from the ports of India to the United States through the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, then Israel and Italy, which is a direct challenge for the giant China project (Belt and Road) and igniting competition for global trade routes.
However, there are questions that arise about the feasibility of this ambitious project in light of the complications of multimedia transportation, its high costs, and its impact on countries such as Egypt that depends on the Suez Canal as a major source of national income.
“We agreed to work together to help build one of the greatest commercial roads in human history,” the US President said during a joint press conference with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He added that this corridor will allow the United States to “remain in the forefront”, referring to the ongoing economic competition with China.
In September 2023, former US President Joe Biden announced an economic corridor project linking India to the Middle East and Europe, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a change in the features of the region.
The United States, India, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, France, Germany, Italy and the European Union, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in New Delhi at the time, signed a memorandum of understanding to create this corridor, which includes an iron ramway, connecting ports, extending lines and pipelines to transport electricity and hydrogen in addition to data transmission cables.
The team, Mohab Mamish (former head of the Suez Canal Authority), commented on the announcement of the establishment of the economic corridor project at the time that “there is no alternative to the channel, the fastest way for maritime transport,” excluding any future repercussions.
He expected the process of transport across the new road to be expensive and take a long time, which makes it useless from the point of view of maritime transport economics.
The Suez Canal amid tensions
About 12% of maritime trade passes globally through the Suez Canal, the shortest gate between Europe and Asia, but it faces difficult challenges after the outbreak of the Israel war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, and the Houthis joining Yemen to what was called the Gaza’s support front, which led them to Targeting ships heading to Israel through the Bab al -Mandab Strait, before they expanded their targets to countries belonging to an alliance aimed at stopping their attacks.
Egypt has lost $ 7 billion of channel revenues during 2024 due to “regional challenges”, which represents a decrease of more than 60% compared to 2023.
The International Monetary Fund stated, earlier, that the Red Sea tensions lost Egypt 70% of the channel’s revenues, which are a major source of foreign currency, since Houthi Yemen began attacking ships heading to Israel in the Red Sea.
The importance of the Suez Canal
The Suez Canal is the shortest marine road between Europe and the countries located around the Indian Ocean and the West of the Pacific Ocean, and the most popular and crowded marine roads in the world.
With continuous expansion, the channel is currently 193 km instead of 164 km from Port Said Port to Suez, and is the longest waterway in the world.
The depth of this channel increased from 8 meters to 24 meters, and its width increased from 52 meters to 205 meters, and the navigation in the channel was only done during the day, but with the passage of time it became allowed at night.
Development corridor
Major General Mahfouz Marzouq, former director of the Egyptian Maritime College and the former deputy head of the Economic Authority of the Suez Canal, reduced the impact of the new economic corridor project, and he told Al -Jazeera Net, “We must call the names with its names, this project is not a transportation corridor but a development passage and cannot enter into competition with the Suez Canal “.
He explained that the load of one ship requires dozens of trains to transport, in addition to the cost of transportation, shipping, discharge and storage in each station, which increases the risks to reach the specified destination.
Maj.
The former director of the Egyptian Maritime College expressed his belief that the corridor is not a competitor to the Suez Canal and that the transportation operations may be limited to specific types of energy, goods and industries related to new projects in those areas that will attract huge investments for them, as well as Washington’s desire to compete with the Chinese Silk Road.
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But he expected the new project to acquire a percentage of the Suez Canal share, which still has competitive advantages that protect its position with its good management, and to develop a long -term strategy to confront the growing international alliances that may reshape the global trade map.
Egypt ended the experimental operation of the Suez Canal dual project, at the end of 2024, which increased the area of duplication by 10 km, to become 82 km in length instead of 72 km, which will contribute to increasing the capacity of the channel.
The scenarios of the new project
The head of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, Major General Ismail Abdel Ghaffar, has put two possibilities for the project that the United States is betting on to increase its influence in the region and confront the growing arms of China.
- The first scenarioThe success of the project in attracting part of the European Asian trade, which reduces the role of the Suez Canal.
- The second scenarioThe project failure due to the complications of multimedia and high costs, in favor of the continued dominance of the channel and tensions in the region.
In his speech to Al -Jazeera Net, he pointed to the multiplicity of international alliances with the aim of reshaping the global trade map in a way that serves the interests of the major countries, especially in light of the geopolitical tensions taking place in the Middle East and the world.
He explained that all commercial and economic indicators confirm that the Suez Canal is still the perfect choice for global navigation, despite the possibility of the new project impact in a limited way.
Abdel Ghaffar believes that the Suez Canal will not be affected by its strategic role, especially with the continued development and development work in the region.
