Egypt’s Investment Minister, Osama Saleh has said the government plans to invest $8bn in a string of projects aimed at developing areas around the Suez Canal and the south of the country, in an effort to create jobs and attract investments back to an economy damaged by political unrest.
“The government vision is to achieve integrated development in the Suez Canal Corridor, starting at East Port Said and to open the horizon for urban development outside the Valley and Delta,” said Saleh. 
Comprising a combination of government and public-private partnerships,the projects include the construction of a new tunnel under the Suez Canal and a major Mediterranean port to spread Egypt’s population more evenly away from the crowded Nile Valley and Delta region, where the vast majority of the nation’s 83 million people live.
Seven of the 14 public-private partnership projects are ready for investment, while the other half would be launched in the next 18 to 24 months, Deputy Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian said.
The projects include solid waste management, drinking water, health, telecommunications and roads, he said.
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