Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab Tuesday inaugurated operations to upgrade Nuweiba Port on the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, 168 kilometers to the north of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The port should be operational as the first batch of pilgrims board the ship to the holy lands.
Mahlab was happy as he inspected work at the port. He stressed the importance of maintenance work as well.
Hani Dahi, the Transport Minister, said his Ministry has a strategy to upgrade all Egyptian ports, including those on the Red Sea, Egypt's eastern gate to the Arab world.
This strategy, he said, is meant to achieve a quantum leap in the performance of ports to be able to accommodate five million passengers annually over the coming 20 years.
Egyptian ports now accommodate a maximum of 2.5 million passengers annually.