File Photo: The Nile River and the Sinai Peninsula. Photo courtesy of NASA
The Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation (MOPEDIC) detailed the plans in a report released on Monday, coinciding with the 52nd anniversary of the October War, a date celebrated nationally as a symbol of unity and the recovery of the Sinai Peninsula.
The government says more than 20 major projects have been completed since 2014, part of what officials describe as an “ambitious” programme to develop North and South Sinai.
Health and education
In North Sinai, new hospitals are being built in Rafah and Nakhil, while others, including El-Arish General, Sheikh Zuweid, Baghdad, and Romana, are undergoing upgrades.
In South Sinai, new facilities are planned in Abu Rudeis, Dahab, Saint Catherine, and Taba.
Education projects include new university buildings, including the Faculty of Computers and Information building, constructing and equipping an educational and administrative building at the Faculty of Information Technology at East Port Said Technological University
Across Sinai, dozens of basic education schools will be renovated, general and technical education institutions rehabilitated, and new classrooms for special education, basic education, general secondary education, and language schools will be constructed and equipped.
South Sinai will also see the construction of the Salman bin Abdulaziz University.
Water and infrastructure
Authorities have expanded desalination and wastewater treatment projects to secure drinking water and reclaim farmland.
The Al-Mahsama triple-treatment plant, situated east of the Suez Canal, aims to reclaim 250 million square metres of land and create thousands of jobs.
Meanwhile, the Bahr El-Baqar system treats 5 million cubic metres of water daily to irrigate 400,000 feddans in Sinai.
A desalination plant in East Port Said will produce 150,000 cubic metres of water per day, and work is underway to modernize North Sinai’s drinking water network.
In South Sinai, new desalination plants and pipelines will provide 80,000 cubic meters of water daily to local communities.
Public services and investment
The first Egypt Services Centre in Arish is nearing completion, designed by the National Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) to provide more than 150 government services, including notarization, civil status, and traffic services, all in one location.
Under the 2025/2026 plan, North Sinai will receive EGP 6.6 billion in government investment, while South Sinai will receive approximately EGP 3.6 billion, covering infrastructure, energy, and transportation.
The projects come as Egypt continues to mark the 1973 October War, known domestically as the October Victory, which ended Israel’s occupation of the Sinai Peninsula and remains a key reference point in national policy toward the region.
Short link: