Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla received a delegation from Methanex Corporation, which invests in the Egyptian petrochemical industry through a methanol production plant in Damietta governorate.
El-Molla explained the Egyptian petroleum sector’s keenness on the existence of effective community participation for companies operating in Damietta.
“In this context, the need to unify efforts and coordination between Methanex, MOPCO, and Segas in joint initiatives to serve the local community in Damietta in order to create a greater and more efficient role of companies in the governorate and achieve the greatest benefit to its people,” said El-Molla.
He highlighted the importance of the Methanex project to qualify young people for the labour market, which is in line with the vision and basic values of the project to develop and modernise the petroleum sector, which focuses on benefiting from the energies of youths by training and qualifying them.
El-Molla further stressed the need to work to increase awareness among young trainees on how to apply occupational safety and health rules in the work environment. He also emphasised the importance of organising workshops related to the field in which they are rehabilitated to support their readiness to enter the labour market.
Mohamed Shendi — the Managing Director of Methanex Egypt — explained that, in 2019, the company signed a partnership agreement with the International Labour Organisation to extend the scope of the organisation’s main project, ‘Decent Jobs for Egypt’s Youths in Damietta’, where the Methanex methanol plant is located. Methanex Egypt also made a contribution of $1m to the International Labour Organisation within the framework of this project.
He added that the project aims to support entrepreneurship and qualify young people to enter the labour market and has succeeded since 2019 in empowering more than 1,000 young men and women from Damietta through its ‘Start and Improve Your Business’ and ‘Job Search Clubs’ programmes.
This is in addition to the ‘Women of Small Businesses are Moving Forward’ programmes, which is part of the Decent Life Presidential Initiative, which contributed to creating about 515 job opportunities.
