Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived at the site of celebration for the inauguration of the "New Suez Canal" in army fatigue, on Thursday afternoon.
State television showed Egypt's president saluting the public and examining the new canal after getting off the 150 year-old Mahrousa yacht, the presidential yacht.
The inauguration ceremony will be attended by a number of world leaders, most notably French President François Hollande. Celebrations are due to begin Thursday afternoon, with the president expected to deliver a speech at around 4 p.m.
Dubbed by Sisi's government as the "New Suez Canal", the project is made up of two aspects.
One involves building a 35 –kilometres-long canal parallel to the current Suez Canal, to minimise the amount of time ships spend crossing the canal. Additionally, the Suez Canal was made deeper and wider to admit larger ships.
The other aspect of the "New Suez Canal" is meanwhile the longer-term development of the canal region. It is due to be concluded in 2045.
