Egypt's flag flies high on Culture Ministry HQ

Culture Ministry staff rose on Thursday Egypt's flag on the ministry's headquarters after a decision taken by Culture Minister Abdel Wahed el Nabawy.

Meanwhile, the ministry is holding a number of celebrations in various governorates on the occasion of the inauguration of the new Suez Canal project.

The ministry also decided to open museums, theaters, circus for free on Thursday.

The new 72-kilometer waterway, built in less than a year at a cost of 60 billion EGP, runs part of the way alongside the existing canal connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

The legendary project was mostly financed by investment certificates sold to Egyptians.

The new canal, which consists of 37 kilometer of new, parallel waterway and 35 kilometers of deepening and widening of the existing canal, will cut the waiting period for vessels from 18 hours to 11.

Its width is 400 meters and it is 24 meters deep.

A maximum 49 ships a day can pass through the canal in two directions present. The Suez Canal Authority says the expansion could almost double the number by 2023.

Large ships with submersibles measuring 65 feet will be also able to enter the waterway, thus increasing the Suez Canal income by 259 percent.

The construction of the new canal was initially scheduled to take five years. It was then first reduced to three years and finally ordered by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to be completed in one year only, which is almost one third of the initial estimated period of implementation.

Built 146 years ago, the Suez Canal is one of the world's most heavily used shipping lanes and has been a key source of international trade.