Sisi names new chairman of Suez Canal Economic Zone

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree Sunday appointing Mohab Mamish as the new chairman for the General Authority for Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).

Mamish, the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, replaces Ahmed Darwish.

According to the presidential decree, Mamish will be responsible for the economic zone for a year while also performing his duties as the chairman of the Suez Canal Authority.

A flagship project for President al-Sisi, the special economic zone extends over 461 square kilometres across the three Suez Canal governorates; Suez, Port Said, and Ismailiya, and will include six maritime ports, to be completed by 2045.

Darwish, who served as chairman of the Suez Canal’s economic zone since 2015, wrote on his Facebook and Twitter accounts that he had not resigned from his position and that he “strongly believes in the president’s vision for the next period, and what and who [this period] needs.”

He also said; “519 days: I thank Mr. President for giving me this opportunity to be honored to sow seeds that our children and grandchildren will reap its fruits.”

Darwish had served as minister of administrative development in the last seven years of former president Hosni Mubarak’s rule.