Sa'id is a friend of the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, to whom he grants a concession in 1854 to construct a canal from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

The Suez Canal Company is organized to undertake the construction, and the concession to the company includes two items that prove costly for Egypt.

First, the company is granted a strip of land linking the Nile with the canal site.

There a freshwater canal is constructed, and the strip of land is decreed tax free, allowing the company to enjoy the benefits of its cultivation.

Second, the viceroy undertakes to supply labor for the canal's construction, in what amounts to a system of forced labor.