At a press conference to respond to what was raised about the sale of Suez Canal assets, following a legislative amendment in the authority's law allowing it to establish an

investment fund, the chairman of the Egyptian Suez Canal Authority, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, said: "the canal will remain under Egyptian sovereignty, and no one can give up on it.

General Osama Rabie stressed that the aim of establishing an investment fund affiliated to the authority is to develop its revenue surpluses and establish giant projects, without sacrificing the shipping lane or the canal assets.

Rabie explained that Article 43 of the Egyptian constitution obliges the state to protect the Suez Canal, and that "the fund has nothing to do with the assets of the Suez Canal facility and is monitored by the Central Auditing Organization".

Rabie added that the proposed canal fund could welcome the participation of foreign investors, but they would not have control over the waterway.

He added that the fund aims to help protect the canal's resources and provide financing for reinvestment, in addition to helping to cope with any unexpected crises, emergency situations such as the corona crisis and the delinquency of the ship "evergiven".

The chairman of the authority stressed that the channel's revenues will not be deducted in favor of the fund's resources, but the fund will rely on the surplus budget allocated to the authority, which is approved by the Ministry of Finance.

Over the weekend, the Egyptian parliament approved, in principle, new amendments to the law of the Suez Canal Authority, allowing it to establish an investment fund with a capital of 10 billion pounds.

Rabie pointed out that the fund's Board of directors will be chaired by the chairman of the authority and will include specialized expertise in investment, and expert houses will be used to study the projects to be submitted.

"Among the projects we are considering is the construction of giant ships in order to serve Egyptian trade, in addition to the docks," Rabea said.