Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi at the 15 International Arab Mineral resources Conference with Arab miniters (Photo: facebook.com/Egy.Pres.Spokesman/)
President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stressed on Monday the need to protect and manage Egypt's rich mineral wealth for the sake of the present and future generations.
This should proceed as part of an integrated vision to promote the mining system to boost the national economy and raise the industrial potentials of the state to attract investments, he told the 15th Arab International Mineral Resources Conference that opened in Cairo on Monday and is to run for three days.
It must also conform to the goals of Egypt's strategy for sustainable development 2030, El-Sisi said.
Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi said President El-Sisi toured the pavilions of the fair held on the sidelines of the conference such as the pavilions of Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
At the wing of the Egyptian Petroleum Ministry, he was briefed on the nation's mineral wealth investment map, Radi added.
Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El-Molla told the conference attendees that Egypt will shed light on the threats and challenges of informal mining in the Arab world at the 15th International Arab Mineral Resources Conference in Cairo this week.
The three-day conference is being attended by a number of Arab officials, including Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khaled Al-Faleh, Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit, Egypt’s Parliament Speaker Ali Abdel-Aal, and the Egyptian ministers of investment and planning.
The conference is being chaired this year by El-Molla, who took over the presidency of the conference from Saudi Arabia's Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khaled Al-Faleh.
El-Molla added in his speech at the conference that there will be challenges in the coming two years to boost investments in the mineral resources sector.
“Through cooperation we will be working on a long-term strategic plan as well as training to overcome the threats of informal mining,” he said.
The Egyptian minister also highlighted the importance of petroleum resources, saying that they had contributed to a 15 percent increase in Egypt’s GDP.
Al-Faleh told attendees that Saudi Arabia and Egypt share strong ties, and also share the same a common vision of the economic, political, mineral and security fields in terms of bilateral cooperation.
Saudi Arabia is the second largest Arab country investing in Egypt, with total investments worth $27 billion, according to the Egyptian investment ministry.
The Saudi Arabian minister also announced the efforts made over the past two years which aimed at increasing investments in the mineral resources field in the Arab world.
The aim of the three-day conference, titled "Mining, investment and economic development in the Arab world,” is to discuss mining prospects and to promote investment opportunities in the field.
Egypt first hosted the biennial event in 1999, the seventh conference.
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