The Canal zone opens up to a backyard northeast of the Delta where the Damietta branch of the River Nile pours into the Mediterranean and where stands the Damietta harbor, the oldest in the country. The area stretching between Port Said and Damietta, across the entire length of Lake Manzallah, holds half of Egypt's fishing fleet. It was owing to this unique position that the Damietta harbor has become a great success particularly with respect to serving containers. As to manpower, the Canal zone and Damietta are known for their active population. Skilful seamen could be found there in plenty just as could good craftsmen and merchants.
Work is just as venerated as worship is.
There also stand two major universities, those of Mansoura and the Suez Canal, to lend a helping hand, where needed. Generally speaking, the area possesses the very ingredients which could turn it into another Singapore. However, in terms of space, climate and manpower Egypt far outdoes Singapore. Actually, the existence of these two approaches is due less to personal animosities between Assad and Arafat then to objective reasons. For Syria, the only acceptable outcome of negotiations with Israel is the restoration of the Golan Heights in their entirety, that is, the pullback by Israeli forces to the pre-June 1967 borders.