Day: February 2, 2023

Irrigation Minister Hany Sowialam has praised the important role played by the presidential ‘Decent Life’ initiative in backing citizens and their rights.

In a report received by the minister, he reiterated on Thursday that the initiative contributes to guaranteeing a decent life for citizens in 54 districts in 20 governorates.

The report reviewed the progress of water projects carried out under the initiative.

Sowialam highlighted great efforts for lining canals at a total distance of 4,466 kilometers.

He referred also to efforts to promote irrigation utilities and establish water treatment stations.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Environment Minister Yasmin Fouad urged the world to restore the wetlands and protect them for the coming generations.

She made the remarks in coincidence of the World Wetlands Day which calls for investing in water, human and political resources to rescue the wetlands remaining around the world and restore those that were deteriorated to stand against the impacts of climate changes that the world gathered to face during the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Egypt.

The World Wetlands Day, celebrated annually on 2 February, aims to raise global awareness about the vital role of wetlands for people and planet.

Egypt has four Ramsar sites, which are the Bardawil, Burullus, Qaroun, and Rayan lakes, she noted

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Local Development Minister Hesham Amna said the ministry pays much attention to provide better services for people with special needs.

In a statement issued Thursday, he reiterated that the Local Development Ministry adopts plans to serve the disabled people in all walks of life easily and quickly.

The next week is set to witness the 26th week of training on how to deal with people with special needs, the minister added.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Minister of Transport Kamel El Wazir asserted that Egypt’s success in implementing strategic projects and its great achievements in the various transport sectors over the past phase amounted to EGP 2 trillions from June, 2014, till June 2024, in addition to establishing the new Suez Canal to allow ships’ transit in both ways and decrease the passage time to 11 hours only.

Addressing the 2nd Dakar Financing Summit for Africa’s Infrastructure Development (DFS-2) on Thursday 2/2/2023, Wazir pointed out to the regional and continental projects such as the Cairo-Cape Town Road, Egypt/Chad Road passing through Sudan, the railway line with Sudan, the navigational line between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea (VICMED) and the upgrade of Matrouh/Saloum railway line to extend to Libya’s Benighazi and increase the volume of trade exchange along with other logistic projects to serve neighboring countries.

He reviewed Egypt’s expertise to provide the necessary fund for such projects in cooperation with development partners from friendly countries as well as the international financial institutions including the World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), among others.

The minister asserted the importance of the government and private sectors in partnership with foreign parties to implement strategic projects along with partnership projects between the State and the Egyptian private sector.

He also briefed attendees on the transport sector’s role in the green transition, the use of clean energy to reduce carbon emissions as well as Egypt’s hosting of the UN Climate Conference (COP27) and its positive outcome and plan of action, in addition to the establishment of environment risks management fund.

Wazir also tackled Egypt’s efforts to fund VICMED and the fund of its feasibility studies with dlrs 500,000 along with coordination with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fund the first phase of the studies with dlrs 650,000, noting that an agreement is soon about to be finalized between Egypt and AfDB to provide dlrs 2 million to fund the second phase of the feasibility studies of the project.

He also said the mega projects which have been carried out in Egypt since 2014 and the specialized companies which have overseen the implementation are fully ready to help the African brethren in implement all infrastructure projects under the supervision of the Egyptian consultative offices.

The session was attended by Uganda finance minister, Djibouti minister of economy and finance, Comoros minister of infrastructure as well as a galaxy of African ministers and officials.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

State Minister of Emigration Soha Gendy discussed with Tunisian Minister of Employment and Vocational Training Nasreddine Nsibi means to boost cooperation in the fields of coordinating the immigration policies in North Africa and the relation between immigration and development in addition to linking the migrants with their countries.

In a statement on Thursday 2/2/2023, the Ministry of Emigration said that the meeting tackled ways of exchanging expertise in the field of combating illegal immigration and securing safe alternatives to youths.

Gendy lauded the distinguished bilateral ties and the strength of the Egyptian-Tunisian historic ties.

Gendy reviewed Egypt’s experience in combating illegal migration, tackling a number of initiatives launched by the ministry to provide safe alternatives.

She pointed out to the cooperation efforts between the ministries, international institutions, NGOs and international institutions of qualifying youth, asserting the success of the strategy of sustainable contact with the Egyptian expats in addition to supporting the national economy and pumping more investments.

Meanwhile, Nsibi asserted his keenness on meeting the minister of Emigration during his first visit to Egypt to discuss means to boost cooperation and open new horizons for youth to gain more expertise and migrate in a systematic way, adding that the Arab youth need cooperation of the institutions to provide alternatives for illegal migration.

Egypt and Tunisia exert strenuous efforts to raise awareness of youth and increase their technical and cultural expertise to make them capable of merging in different communities and cultures, he said.

At the end of the meeting, both sides agreed on the importance of exchanging expertise in the fields of technical education and vocational training to meet the needs of the work market and provide safer immigration opportunities.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

Petroleum Minister Tarek el Molla said on Thursday 2/2/2023 that President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will open the sixth edition of the Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS) from February 12 at the Egypt International Exhibition Centre.

The event will focus on energy security and climate action through collaborative industry efforts.

At a press conference, Molla said the event will open to the public on February 13.

It will zoom in on strategic, technical, and financial investment as well as equality and sustainability in energy, he added.

Molla said 70 percent of participants are foreign companies and institutions.

The show will be attended by ministers, C-suite executives, and CEOs of the most prominent energy companies as well as economic specialists.

Some 2,000 delegates and over 260 speakers will convene to discuss solutions and strategies to support the reshaping of global energy markets, according to Molla.

EGYPS will host sustainability in energy conference that will bring together global energy leaders, sustainability and HSE experts to explore how oil and gas operators are integrating sustainability practices into their business models and workplaces ensuring positive impact on the planet, their employees, and the communities in which they operate.

Source: State Information Service Egypt

During the ministerial session, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed to exchange expertise in the field of international cooperation, development funding between the Ministry of International Cooperation and the Hungarian Foreign Ministry as well as another MOU in the field of social affairs which aims at enhancing joint cooperation and coordination in the various social fields.

During the session, Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania El Mashat extended thanks to the Hungarian side on the warm welcome and hospitality, noting that both countries have established close and historical relations for approximately 100 years. She also said relations have been further enhanced through exchanging visits between the two countries’ leaders, citing the recent visit of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi to Hungary as well as Hungarian President János Áder’s recent visit to Cairo.

Mashat pointed out to the efforts of the Egyptian State under Sisi’s leadership in deepening ties with various friendly countries with the aim of boosting economic relations with the Visegrád Group member states.

She also reviewed the progress of Egyptian-Hungarian relations over the past years, noting that the volume of trade exchange exceeded dlrs 400 million and that the number of Hungarian companies investing in Egypt is on the rise along with Hungarian tourists who reached 40,000.

On cooperation in the economic field, Mashat said Egypt is keen on moving ahead with beefing up cooperation and joint investments especially in the fields of industry, agriculture, food industries, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, water, renewable energy, communication, information technology and others.

The Hungarian minister, on his part, said that the committee meeting addressed the framework of strengthening relations between the two sides, noting that a priority will be given to food security, agriculture, transport, energy and gas.

On the transport field, Hungary has agreed on providing 1,350 railway carriages to the Egyptian Railway Authority (ERA).

This order has now been expanded by another 50 railway carriages, bringing its value to around 1.1 billion euros from the previous 1 billion euros, Szijjarto said.

Reliable international partnerships have become even more important in light of the war in Ukraine, Szijjarto said, adding that relations between Hungary and Egypt were characterised by mutual respect, which had contributed to significant achievements.

Bilateral trade in agriculture reached a record 30 million dollars last year, up 80 percent from the year before, Szijarto said.

Hungary and Egypt are building new nuclear plant reactors with the same contractor and technology, Szijarto said, adding that this presented serious opportunities in bilateral technical, scientific and educational cooperation.

“We believe that nuclear energy is the energy of the future because it’s cheap, safe and a sustainable way of producing electricity,” the minister said, adding that Hungary and Egypt intended to establish broad nuclear cooperation.

The committee was attended by a galaxy of national bodies including Head of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone) Walid Gamal El Din, Head of the General Authority for Free Zones and Investment (GAFI) Hossam Heiba, Egypt’s Ambassador in Hungary Mohamed El Shenawy and representatives of a number of ministries and the private sector.

Source: State Information Service Egypt