Egypt's Sisi promotes Suez deputy chairman to head Canal Authority

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has appointed Lieutenant General Osama Rabie as chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, the presidency said in a statement on Saturday.

Rabie, a naval officer, was vice chairman of the Canal Authority under its previous head, Mohab Mamish, who will become an adviser to the president on seaports.

Sisi also appointed engineer Yahia Zaki as head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone, a mega-project launched in 2015 to be an international hub for global manufacturers along the canal.

The Suez Canal is the most direct shipping route between Europe and Asia and one of the Egyptian government’s main sources of foreign currency.

In the 2018-2019 financial year, it brought in $5.9 billion.

(Reporting by Mohamed Hendawy; Writing by Nadine Awadalla; Editing by Kevin Liffey)