President El-Sisi Meets with Group of Egyptian Businessmen Participating in “Haya Karima” Initiative

President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met today with a group of Egyptian businessmen participating in “Haya Karima" (Decent Life) Initiative in the presence of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Director of the General Intelligence Service Mr. Abbas Kamel.

The Spokesman for the Egyptian Presidency stated that the meeting discussed the most important objectives of the national project for the development of the Egyptian rural villages as part of “Haya Karima" (Decent Life) Initiative. The project aims to modernize all aspects of life in 4584 villages in all governorates, comprising 58% of the total population of Egypt, at an estimated cost of about 700 billion pounds.

The project also focuses on upgrading the social, health, educational, economic, and housing levels as well as all service sectors for these villages, eliminating multidimensional poverty and investing in the development and building of the Egyptian character. The project is carried out in cooperation and coordination between all specialized agencies in the state, in a way that integrates with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The President indicated that the project for the development of the Egyptian rural villages, which is the largest integrated development project in Egypt’s modern history, comes under the umbrella of implementing Egypt Vision 2030. The project aims to develop all aspects of life in the countryside and achieve the quality and stability of services for citizens.

The President stressed that the state is determined to make every effort to complete the project’s phases in the shortest possible time and to move on a large scale, as part of an integrated collective effort between state institutions, the private sector, civil society, and development partners.

The President also stressed that this project comes after a pivotal time that Egypt has gone through since 2014, during which the most comprehensive and deepest structural economic reforms in Egypt’s history have been adopted and many chronic economic problems have been radically dealt with.

As a result, resources have been made available, thus helping the State to establish a strong, modern and integrated infrastructure that provided an attractive climate for investment and businesses.

These efforts are made as part of a comprehensive national development plan, including a large number of mega projects that provided promising investment opportunities in many productive and service sectors.

It is worth mentioning that Egypt has managed to secure its energy needs in order to meet the increasing requirements of the industrial and investment sector.
This success has been made amid the coronavirus pandemic, proving how solid and determined the State is.

The President also stressed that the government attached great importance to enhancing the abilities of Egyptians from all sides and investing in human resources as they are the driving force of the progress of a future befitting Egypt’s status.

The Spokesman added that the first phase of the project was presented during the meeting. The first phase includes the development of 52 centers, 1,500 villages and 10611 infrastructure components.

Among the goals of the first phase of the project are achieving economic empowerment, promoting social intervention and human development programs, and developing the sectors of health (hospitals, health units and ambulance station), electricity, education, communications, youth and sports, and agriculture.

These development plans also include sanitation, drinking water, treatment and purification plants, irrigation, canal lining, natural gas, roads and government service complexes.

Moreover, the project supports the services provided by the social solidarity sector, such as eradicating illiteracy, rehabilitating the disabled, helping the neediest brides to get married, providing decent housing to the most in need, developing vocational training programs, establishing industrial and agricultural complexes, promoting waste recycling, and establishing small and micro projects.

The President expressed his appreciation to the businessmen present at the meeting for their contributions and societal efforts in “Haya Karima” (Decent Life) project that aims to achieve economic and social development in Egypt.

His Excellency stressed that this project would represent a major qualitative leap for Egypt. The project would also open up prospects for relying on local production, and help develop the industrial and business sector, the key to Egypt’s future, the President added.