CAIRO — Egypt launched Oct. 24 a new shipping line from Ain Sokhna port to Kenya’s Mombasa port, as part of the Gosour project of Egypt’s Ministry of Public Business Sector to promote intra-Egyptian trade with African countries.

The first shipment, which departed Oct. 20 from Ain Sokhna in Suez, included 52 container ships, representing over 50% of the target for the first three months starting from the October launch of the project, the ministry said. 

The ministry has provided a full range of transport and logistics services through the Gosour project, which is being implemented by the state-owned Holding Company for Maritime and Land Transport (HCMLT) and the Misr Insurance Holding Company, in a bid to open new markets for foreign trade, through a single window to deal with exporters and importers. 

In an Oct. 20 speech at a conference of the Egyptian Center for Economic Studies, Minister of Public Business Sector Hisham Tawfik said that the government has been seeking to establish a marketing and brokerage company with a proposed capital of $10 million, with local banks and the private sector, as part of the Gosour project.