Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Abdel Aziz al Fayez described on Friday the New Suez Canal as a great Egyptian project that resembles the High Dam in terms of importance.

Speaking to MENA, Fayez congratulated the Egyptian people on the finalization of the New Suez Canal in a short period.

The new shipping lane will serve maritime transport and facilitate the delivery of commodities and services around the world, he said.

Fayez hailed relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The enlarged Suez Canal, to be inaugurated on August 6, will allow ships to sail in both directions at the same time over much of the canal's length. This is expected to decrease the waiting time from 11 to 3 hours for most ships and to double the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships a day.

Revenues from the Suez Canal would jump from five billion dollars to 12.5 billion dollars annually.