Egypt and Türkiye Sign Transport Cooperation Agreement on Regional Corridors

On 3 July 2026, Egypt's Kamel El-Wazir, who serves as both Deputy Prime Minister and Transport Minister, joined Türkiye's Abdulkadir Uraloğlu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, in signing a bilateral memorandum of understanding. The agreement establishes technical cooperation on maritime services and overland transport routes spanning multiple continents.

The MoU lays groundwork for joint feasibility work on infrastructure linking Asia, Africa and Europe through enhanced transit networks. El-Wazir referenced plans for a rail line between El-Arish and Taba in Egypt's northeast. Exploratory dialogue on connecting Egyptian infrastructure to the historic Hejaz Railway network continues separately but does not form part of the current signed text. Commercial shipbuilding cooperation also falls within the memorandum's scope.

The Middle Corridor — a trans-Caspian multimodal route threading through Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Türkiye — has attracted increased traffic as freight operators pursue alternatives to northern pathways. The Iraqi Development Road, still in planning, would create a north-south link from the Gulf via Iraq into Türkiye. Uraloğlu described the memorandum as an overarching cooperation structure for regional connectivity, with technical studies forming the immediate next phase of work on the Iraqi Development Road and the proposed New Hejaz Road.

A parallel memorandum addresses a Turkish-backed logistics and industrial zone at Jarjoub, with a reported investment value near USD 7bn. The signing occurred during the Turkish Maritime Summit. Separately, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye concluded rail and logistics agreements on 9 June 2026 aimed at reviving sections of the historic Hejaz Railway as part of a Gulf-to-Europe corridor that would transit Syria and Jordan.