Iraqi President Fuad Masum described Egypt’s new Suez Canal project as a “great achievement for the Egyptian leadership and people,” affirming his participation in the project’s inauguration ceremony on August 6.

During a meeting with Egypt’s Ambassador here Ahmed Darwish at the presidential palace on Monday, Masum congratulated the Egyptian leadership and people on the national project.

Meanwhile, Darwish told MENA correspondent here that he handed over an official invitation to the Iraqi president to attend the official inauguration of the new canal, which the latter welcomed.

On 5 August 2014, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi launched the new waterway project, which is being dug alongside the Suez Canal. It is meant to add an extra lane to the Suez Canal, one of the world's most important thoroughfares for trade, in an attempt to increase the number of ships using it each day.

The Suez Canal, which allows ships to travel from Europe to Asia without navigating around Africa, only provides for one-way traffic, with occasional room for ships to pass each other. The new lane will allow ships to travel in both directions.