The UAE has handed over 200 buses to Egypt, the second instalment of 600 vehicles to be donated to the public transport authority in Cairo, state news agency WAM reported.
The buses were manufactured by Abu Dhabi-based Hafilat Industries and JB Polo Buses Manufacturing in Egypt.
According to the Coordination Office of the UAE-funded Development Projects in Egypt, up to 600,000 residents in the Egyptian capital stand to benefit from the new buses. The vehicles can help reduce traffic congestion, accidents and the cost of transport in the city by half, the office said.
Preparations are underway to hand over the third instalment of the buses to the Egyptian government, WAM reported. The first instalment of the buses was delivered to the country in early March this year.
According to a World Bank study last year, approximately $8 billion is wasted every year in the Greater Cairo Metropolitan Area (GCMA) due to traffic congestion. The economic cost of the congestion in GCMA, which has a population of 19.6 million, is estimated to be about 3.6% of Egypt’s total GDP, the World Bank says.
