River Navigation Resumes Between Egypt, Sudan

A boat transports people along the river Nile in Cairo, Egypt July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A boat transports people along the river Nile in Cairo, Egypt July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
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River Navigation Resumes Between Egypt, Sudan

A boat transports people along the river Nile in Cairo, Egypt July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany
A boat transports people along the river Nile in Cairo, Egypt July 2, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

Sudan’s Wadi Halfa River Port, which borders Egypt, started receiving Egyptian imports on Wednesday through units and river barges transported between the Port and Aswan High Dam.

This comes after a four-month suspension due to the precautionary measures taken by the Sudanese government which closed the crossings and borders to limit the spread of the new coronavirus.

The port received a number of Egyptian imports through the vessels and units that belong to the Egyptian-Sudanese Nile Valley Authority for River Navigation.

The Sudanese government announced in mid-June the resumption of trade exchange with Egypt through Ashkeet border crossing, after nearly a three-month standstill.

Head of the Authority’s office in Wadi Halfa Mahmoud Abd El Motaal said about 2,000 tons of cement have arrived during the past two weeks from the High Dam to Halfa, expecting further 1,500 tons of urea fertilizer to arrive soon through Wadi Halfa port.

The Nile Valley Authority for River Navigation is an Egyptian-Sudanese organization that transports passengers as well as goods. It was established in 1975 as the only international transporter in Nasser Lake.

The volume of trade exchange between Sudan and Egypt is estimated at one billion dollars annually, and Egyptian investments in Sudan are estimated at $10.1 billion.

The two African countries have been planning to construct roads and railways to facilitate trade and transport through joint border crossings, in line with their attempts to double the volume of trade between them to reach $1.5 billion.



China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Expands Visa-free Entry to More Countries in Bid to Boost Economy

Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Shoppers with their purchased goods walk past a popular outdoor shopping mall in Beijing, on Nov. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China announced Friday that it would expand visa-free entry to citizens of nine more countries as it seeks to boost tourism and business travel to help revive a sluggish economy.
Starting Nov. 30, travelers from Bulgaria, Romania, Malta, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Estonia, Latvia and Japan will be able to enter China for up to 30 days without a visa, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said.
That will bring to 38 the number of countries that have been granted visa-free access since last year. Only three countries had visa-free access previously, and theirs had been eliminated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permitted length of stay for visa-free entry is being increased from the previous 15 days, Lin said, and people participating in exchanges will be eligible for the first time. China has been pushing people-to-people exchange between students, academics and others to try to improve its sometimes strained relations with other countries, The Associated Press reported.
China strictly restricted entry during the pandemic and ended its restrictions much later than most other countries. It restored the previous visa-free access for citizens of Brunei and Singapore in July 2023, and then expanded visa-free entry to six more countries — France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia — on Dec. 1 of last year.
The program has since been expanded in tranches. Some countries have announced visa-free entry for Chinese citizens, notably Thailand, which wants to bring back Chinese tourists.
For the three months from July through September this year, China recorded 8.2 million entries by foreigners, of which 4.9 million were visa-free, the official Xinhua News Agency said, quoting a Foreign Ministry consular official.