Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated on Saturday the El-Fayrouz fish farming project in the northeastern Port Said city among other development projects nationwide.
The Port Said project is founded over 15,886 feddans and includes two fishing lakes on an area of 9,762 feddans, Mostafa Amin Ali, the general director of the National Service Projects Authority said.
The new fish farming project has 5,908 tanks with an annual production capacity estimated at 13,000 tons.
The project includes a fish processing factory, an ice production factory, a laboratory for tests and research, a number of water plants and a network of canals and drains.
According to Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi, the project aims at reducing the gap between production and consumption, achieving self-sufficiency, and limiting fish imports.
The project is also meant to increase fish exports to Arab and European countries, Radi said, adding that it will contribute to securing foreign currency and supporting the national economy.
It is also set to provide 10,000 direct and indirect job opportunities, he noted.
In his speech during the inauguration ceremony, El-Sisi said the project was implemented at a high cost, having met comprehensive industrial standards.
He said that many national mega-projects were implemented, including in the fields of agriculture, land reclamation and fish farming, noting that the state is developing Lake Manzala near Port Said.
“In order for the Lake (Manzala), that is founded on 250,000 feddans, to produce 70,000 or 80,000 tons of fish or more, what we have done should be followed by full control on procedures in the lake,” the president said.
El-Sisi also opened a fish farming project at Deeba Triangle in west Port Said via video-conference.
According to the head of the National Company for Fish Resources Hamdy Badeen, the Deeba Triangle project is implemented on a total area of 204 feddans. It consists of 72 tanks with an annual production capacity estimated at 250 tons.
Ongoing projects
The ceremony witnessed the inauguration of other projects via video-conference, including projects for dairy and livestock products in Fayoum and Nubaria and projects for producing marble and granite in South Sinai’s Ras Sedr city and Ain Sokhna city in Suez.
El-Sisi said overpopulation was hampering development efforts. “I want to improve the living conditions of all citizens… but population growth is not giving us the chance,” the president added.
He referred to a project to develop 1,500 villages, stating that it will provide sanitation services and road networks, drinking water systems, governmental institutions, and other services.
He noted that the project will contribute to securing job opportunities for local contractors.
The project will significantly develop the countryside within three years, the president added.
Railways
Egypt is upgrading 10,000 kilometres of railway lines across the country, El-Sisi said, adding that by the end of the year, all old locomotives and railcars will have been replaced.
The president revealed plans to establish a new railway line between the northern 6 October city in Giza to Upper Egypt’s Aswan in the south, saying that passengers will be able to travel between the two cities in four hours.
He noted that the state rejected foreign bids to implement a 450-kilometre railway line between Ain Sokhna and Alamein valued at $19.5 billion and $10 billion, saying that a 2,000-kilometre railway line is being implemented with a total cost of EGP 350 billion (about $22 billion).
“The railway lines we are implementing are a big goal… We are working for our people in Egypt,” El-Sisi said.
The president reiterated that overpopulation remains an obstacle to the state’s development efforts, because population grows faster than the state’s resources.
Development efforts
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly reviewed a number of state projects being implemented as part of Egypt’s 2030 strategy.
The premier said the state has been implementing 31,000 projects to improve people's lives in rural and urban areas.
The projects have been implemented with investments valued at over EGP 5.8 trillion, Madbouly said, noting that many of these projects were already implemented and the rest will be finished within three years.
Madbouly said the state has been constructing 30 new cities with a total investment of EGP 700 billion.
The cities are expected to accommodate around 30 million people, he noted, adding that construction is planned to finish in four years.
Madbouly said Egypt has a large number of dry ports, adding that the total investment in these ports amounts to EGP 50 billion.
“The goal of developing ports is for Egypt to become a hub for international trade,” Madbouly said.
In electricity, the premier said Egypt has invested over EGP 500 billion, adding that the country now has a surplus in power and is capable of exporting it to neighbouring countries.
The state has been working to implement 25 governmental, private and non-profit private universities, valued at EGP 150 billion, Madbouly said.
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