The meeting
reviewed the program’s progress in the governorates of Upper Egypt, in terms of
developing industrial zones and economic clusters.
Cairo- Oct 17,
2021
Minister
of Trade and Industry has received a delegation from the World Bank led by
Mohamed Nada, senior urban specialist at the Bank, in the presence of Mohamed al-Zalat,
head of the Industrial Development Authority, Ahmad Reda, associate minister
for industrial affairs, and Hisham al-Helbawy, director of the Upper Egypt
Local Development Program-for-Results (PforR).
The meeting
reviewed updates on the program’s implementation in the governorates of Upper
Egypt, in terms of developing industrial zones and economic clusters.
The program,
adopted by the Egyptian government in cooperation with the World Bank, aims to
improve the business environment for private sector development and strengthen
local government capacity for quality infrastructure and service delivery in
select governorates in Upper Egypt.
Gamea
said that the project is currently implemented in the two governorates of Sohag
and Qena as a model to be generalized, noting that it has recently been
geographically expanded to include Minya and Assiut.
“Promoting
industrial development in Qena and Sohag aims to attract larger, integrated
industries in the two governorates, according to the comparative advantages of
each,” she emphasized.
The
minister added that the Upper Egypt Local Development PforR is integrated with the
“Decent Life” initiative, given that boosting the industrial sector comes as a
top priority of the program.
World
Bank officials, who attended the meeting via video conference, pointed out that
a number of economic clusters have been launched in Upper Egypt governorates, including
ten in Sohag and Qena, and four in Minya and Assiut, in the fields of handicrafts,
furniture, molasses, pomegranate and aromatic plants.