Suez Canal bridge 2001

A ministry of transport delegation left Cairo for Tokyo last week to hold talks with Japanese officials on the construction of the middle part of the suspension bridge which will link Africa and Asia across the Suez Canal.

The construction will begin in February after a tender to be announced by the Japanese government to contract a Japanese road construction firm, said the head of Egyptian delegation, adding that two Egyptian companies are currently working on the remaining part of the bridge.

The two companies have completed 12 percent of the operation over the past 3 months.

The Japanese government is offering to finance 60 percent of the project while Egypt will fund the rest. The construction process is scheduled to be completed by the year 2001.