Prime Minister of Egypt Mostafa Madbouly. Al-Ahram
Egypt is eying further cooperation with the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in the water desalination field as a priority sector for the government, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Tuesday.
Madbouly made his remarks during a meeting with senior officials from the EBRD and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an affiliate of the World Bank.
The meeting was attended by the ministers of international cooperation and housing; EBRD Deputy Head for Egypt Khalid Hamza; and Heike Harmgart, managing director for the southern and eastern Mediterranean region at the EBRD.
Madbouly stressed that the government is working to maximise the utilisation of water resources by embarking upon a number of projects that aim to make the best use of every drop of water and ensure that water is recycled more than once.
He also highlighted the state's efforts to transform to modern irrigation techniques to reduce water waste, and asserted the need to depend on clean energy sources in desalination projects
Meanwhile, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat said that her ministry plans to speed up cooperation with development partners to attract more funds and investment that will enable the government to expand the establishment of water desalination plants across Egypt.
Housing minister Assem El-Gazzar affirmed his ministry's willingness to cooperate with foreign financial institutions to increase the number of desalination plants nationwide.
He stressed that attention must also be paid to transferring desalination technologies while localising the production of the components of desalination plants.
During the meeting, the bank's officials gave an outline of their proposals for water desalination projects, asserting their keen interest in mutual cooperation in such a vital sector.
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