Transport Minister Hisham Arafat broke ground on the Sohag river port on Thursday, the second of several river ports the ministry plans to develop along the Nile in Upper Egypt, according to Al Masry Al Youm. The project’s total investment value was not disclosed and it remains unclear if the private sector is involved in its development. We had reported in April that the Transport Ministry was planning to issue a tender for the development of the USD 50-100 mn Qena river port soon. Arafat had said the ministry would launch river port tenders once legislation regulating river traffic and commercial transport is passed. The bill, which the Ismail Cabinet signed off on in August last year, is still before the House of Representatives.