Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi inaugurated the 4th edition of the World Youth Forum (WYF) in Sharm El-Sheikh on Monday in the presence of several heads of state. The event will run from 10 to 13 January.
In his speech, the president called on countries to work together to overcome the challenges of survival and end the current crises for the sake of humanity and establish peace, considering that the sincerity of intentions is the only way to end conflicts and manage differences.
He also stressed “the inevitability of dialogue and the importance of managing differences and forming a state of certainty and belief that Allah’s wisdom and secret in this universe is difference without discrimination.”
During the opening session of the conference, Al-Sisi said that Egypt was able to come up with good health capabilities after implementing several health initiatives in 2018.
“The economic reform programme had an important role in absorbing the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic. However, it must be said that the programme was very harsh for Egyptians,” the president said.
He added that the pandemic had major repercussions on many sectors — especially tourism and aviation — and therefore, the state has launched several national projects to prepare the country to move towards a better future, along with many national initiatives.
“These initiatives aimed to support temporary employment during the pandemic and ensure that national projects did not stop.”
The president also noted that Egypt achieved a growth rate of 3.3% in 2021 despite the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that the Egyptian economy is ready to avoid greater shocks caused by the pandemic.
“Despite the pandemic, we have worked on major national projects in order to achieve the growth rates we seek. We could have taken a decision to stop all activities, but we maintained work rates and prepared precautionary measures to move forward with the country’s economic and health programmes,” Al-Sisi explained.
Moreover, he mentioned the health initiatives that were being implemented prior to the pandemic — such as the initiative to treat Hepatitis C — noting that these presidential initiatives, as well as the survey conducted by the state for communicable diseases, contributed significantly to reducing the number of infections and deaths from the coronavirus in the country.
Furthermore, the president pointed to the role of the Decent Life Initiative in enhancing the lives of 60 million Egyptians in rural areas, adding that the programme targets spending EGP 600 to 700bn over the next three years, starting from the current FY2021/22.
