Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr signed on Sunday two agreements with Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Abdulwahab Al-Bader. The agreements aim to support development projects in North Sinai with a total value of KWD 17.5m (EGP 1bn). Signing the agreements came on the sidelines of Nasr’s visit to Kuwait.
Nasr explained that the first agreement is dedicated to financing projects to extend water networks to houses in Arish city, with a value estimated at KWD 12.5m and comes as part of the government’s plan to develop the North Sinai region.
She added that the project aims to develop the infrastructure of the water network in Arish to cope with the growing population of the city until 2037 and contributes to raising the level of sustainable development in all sectors, including residential and touristic sectors. This funding comes within the framework of a total $900m fund offered by KFAED over three years, allocated for development projects in North Sinai.
The second agreement, Nasr said, is an annex to the agreement to finance the project to reclaim 400,000 feddans in North Sinai worth KWD 5m. Ultimately, the project aims to achieve a positive impact, achieving sustainable community development in Egypt in general, particularly in North Sinai.
The project, which comes as part of the government’s ambitious plans to develop North Sinai, will contribute to creating about 5,000 jobs for fresh graduates and provide opportunities to establish a residential community in the region, which, in turn, would advance the urbanisation of the area and expand agricultural land there. It would also help farmers improve irrigation techniques and facilitate moving their crops to the market.
Director General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) Abdulwahab Al-Bader stressed that his organisation is keen to support development projects in Sinai, noting that the fund has supported Egypt with $2.763bn to date that were channelled through 44 development projects spanning several fields, in addition to 15 technical grants worth $52m.
