PM, ministers discuss ways to accelerate Sinai development

CAIRO – 23 December 2018: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli held an expanded meeting with a number of ministers to discuss incentives for accelerating development in Sinai.

Madbouli stressed that the government aims to give real benefits to Sinai in general and North Sinai in particular to accelerate its development. He added that there are proposals to give customs and tax exemptions and incentives for investors for limited duration, and to provide lands in North Sinai, according to the right to usufruct.

It is also proposed to provide social housing units in North Sinai at lower prices than in the rest of Egyptian governorates and to hugely reduce the tuition of the outstanding schools implemented by the state, such as the Japanese schools.

Nader Saad, Cabinet spokesman, said that the meeting witnessed the review of the various services provided to the Sinai people and the development projects currently being implemented. The various ministries carry out a large number of projects within their annual budget, while the Armed Forces Engineering Authority has implemented 312 projects in infrastructure and services, with a total cost of LE 198 billion ($11.07 billion).

During the meeting, North Sinai Governor Abdel Fadeel Shosha announced the implementation of 11 agricultural development communities on an area of about 5,200 acres, Saad said, adding that they will contribute to achieving high rates of development.

He also pointed out to New Rafah, which he said will contribute to the provision of decent housing to citizens in civilized planned communities, with all services available. Saad confirmed the presence of great opportunities for industrial investments in central Sinai, especially in the field of manufacturing marble and granite.

The meeting was also attended by ministers of electricity, social solidarity, foreign affairs, investment and international cooperation, planning, health and communications, besides head of the Sinai Development Authority.

The Armed Forces Engineering Authority is currently working on establishing the new Rafah city with 10,016 housing units, military spokesman Tamer el-Rifai told Egypt Today in October.

The World Bank commission in charge of following up with the Sinai Integrated Development Programme headed by Ashish Khanna and Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr discussed in September finalizing the measures necessary for $1B grants.

Nasr stipulated that the political leadership sets the peninsula’s development as a priority, aiming at creating jobs, constructing integrated roads and facilities network linking Sinai to other governorates, creating urban areas, establishing agricultural projects, building desalination plants and residential units as well as supporting SMEs and women breadwinners.

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Additional reporting by Noha al-Tawil