新奇事件簿 埃及建新蘇伊士運河

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Egypt's President Abdelfattah el-Sisi attended a ceremony yesterday to unveil a major extension of the Suez Canal. The original canal was completed in 1869 and took 10 years to build. The new, $8.5 billion canal was constructed in just under 12 months, beating all predictions by industry experts that it would take five years. The canal provides a passageway between the Mediterranean and Red seas. President Sisi sailed up the canal in his presidential yacht, the El Mahrousa, wearing military fatigues to attend the inauguration. The El Mahrousa was the first ship to officially sail through the original canal nearly a century-and-a-half ago. President Sisi described the new canal as Egypt's "gift to the world".

昨天，埃及總統(tǒng)阿卜杜勒·法塔赫·塞西參加了拓寬蘇伊士運河的開幕儀式。最初的蘇伊士運河于1869年完工，總建造時間長達10年。新蘇伊士運河耗資85億美元，并于一年內完成，這也打破了行內專家預計在5年內完成的預測。新運河將連通地中海和紅海?？偨y(tǒng)塞西當天身穿軍裝，乘坐總統(tǒng)游艇El Mahrousa號通過新運河，參加開幕儀式。將近150年前，El Mahrousa號是第一艘行駛在老蘇伊士運河上的官方游艇。塞西總統(tǒng)認為這條新運河是埃及賜給世界的禮物。

Egypt's government hopes the new canal will provide a much-needed boost for the country's economy. The head of the Suez Canal Authority, Mohab Mamish, said the new canal was important to ensure Egypt earns revenues from its waterways in the future. He told reporters: "If I can't handle this and turn it into revenue for the Egyptian treasury, alternative routes will emerge." He hopes revenues will increase from the current annual $5.3 billion to $13.2 billion by 2023. That means shipping traffic would need to grow from 49 per day at present to 97 by 2023. This would entail a nine per cent increase in global trade. Some economists have cast doubt on whether these figures can be met.

埃及政府希望這條新運河能夠為埃及經濟添油助力。蘇伊士運河走廊項目委員會負責人馬米什稱新運河至關重要，因為它能夠保證埃及通過水運來增加財政收入。他對記者說：“如果我無法將運河收入轉化為國家財政收入，那么其他路線也將應運而生。”他希望到2030年之前，年收入能夠從53億美金增長到132億美元。這就意味著到2030年之前，每天通過蘇伊士運河的船只數量將從如今的49艘增至97艘。這將為全球貿易增加9個百分點。許多經濟學家對是否能夠達到這一目標而表示懷疑。