Higher Committee for the Management of the Local Development Program in Upper Egypt holds meeting to discuss the latest developments in its executive position

The Higher Committee for the Management of the Local Development Program in Upper Egypt held a meeting via video conference, headed by Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Vice Chairman of the Programme's Steering Committee, with the participation of Major General Mahmoud Shaarawi, Minister of Local Development, and Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance.
Major General Ashraf Al-Daoudi, Governor of Qena; Major General Tariq Al-Fiqi, Governor of Sohag; Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning and Economic Development; Major General Mohamed Fadel Al-Zalat, President of the Industrial Development Authority and Assistant Minister of International Cooperation; Dr. Hisham El-Helbawi, Program Manager of Local Development in Upper Egypt; and Dr. Khaled Abdel Halim, Deputy Director of the program, also participated, in addition to the team coordinating office of the program and a team from the ministries of planning, economic development, trade, and industry.
During the meeting, the latest developments in the executive position of the local development program in Upper Egypt in the governorates of Sohag and Qena were reviewed and discussed, within the framework of the attention that the President attaches to the governorates of Upper Egypt and the close follow-up by the Prime Minister to the program.
At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said said that the program is an example of coordination and integration between ministries and state institutions to improve citizens’ standard of living, provide decent services, and implement projects in Upper Egypt governorates.
The Minister of Planning and Economic Development asserted that the results of the income and expenditure research that were announced in early December are that the policies adopted by the Egyptian government were effective in reducing poverty rates at a time when the whole world was suffering from high poverty rates.
El-Said added that it was clear there was a decrease in poverty indicators in the governorates of Upper Egypt, which means that the economic reform programs, social protection, and the Upper Egypt Development Project began in the stage of having a direct impact on development indicators, adding that the state's interventions come according to a scientific approach that relies on discovering development gaps in the governorates and addressing poverty in a multidimensional manner by providing sources of income and employment opportunities, as well as basic services, especially regarding health, education, drinking water and sanitation.
The Minister of Planning and Economic Development indicated during the meeting that the results of the program confirm the success of the state's policies in reducing poverty rates, raising the quality of infrastructure projects, and increasing public investment in the poorest governorates, as public investments in Sohag Governorate, increased by 38% to reach LE 6.3 billion during the fiscal year 2020/21. In Qena, total public investments rose to LE 6.6 billion, an increase of 62% compared to the beginning of the program in the 2016/17 fiscal year.
El-Said praised the role of the coordination office for the program and all institutions participating in the program, pointing to the effect of the increase in the average per capita income from public investment in the governorates of Sohag and Qena from LE 500 in 2015/16 to reach LE 1,200 in Sohag governorate and LE 1,900 in Qena governorate during the current fiscal year, while there was a decline in the poverty and unemployment rates in the two governorates, confirming the decrease in poverty levels in urban and rural Upper Egypt in 2019/20 by 1.06 and 3.79 percentage points, respectively, compared to the levels recorded in 2017/18.
El-Said highlighted the projects completed in the Upper Egypt Development Program during the past four years (2016/17-2019/20), as the huge investments that were directed under the program resulted in the implementation of 1,749 projects at a total cost of LE 2.4 billion, of which 532 projects were in Qena Governorate, with a total investment cost of LE 1.3 billion, and 1,217 projects in Sohag Governorate, with a total investment cost of about LE 1.1 billion.
For his part, Major General Mahmoud Shaarawi indicated that the program succeeded in meeting all indicators of disbursement and evaluation and verification cycles that were carried out by independent bodies, which resulted in the transfer of $365 million of loan allocations from the World Bank to the Ministry of Finance, which is equivalent to 73% of the total allocations targeted until the end of the program in October 2023.
The Minister of Local Development said that a new evaluation cycle is underway during the current period, and it is expected that the two governorates will be able to achieve good results that will enable them to obtain an additional $63 million to fund the 2021/22 plan, pointing out that an amount of $277 million has been transferred from the Ministry of Finance to the governorates until now.
Shaarawi added that the total number of implemented and ongoing projects amounted to about 3,707 projects in the two governorates, as 2,444 projects have been completed and 1,263 projects are being implemented.
The implementation of projects to accompany and develop the four industrial zones in the two governorates has also started with investments amounting to LE 3.6 billion, and there are good cooperation and coordination between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Local Development in this regard.
The Minister of Local Development indicated that the World Bank praised in its recent mission the increase in the number of beneficiaries of the projects, which amounted to 5.2 million citizens out of a total of 8 million citizens in the two governorates, representing approximately 65% of the population. This indicates that great steps have been completed to improve the services provided for citizens, where the technological centers were developed, the building permit service guide was issued, and the front and back-office workers were trained. As a result, the time required to obtain the services of building permits and store licenses in technology centers was reduced by 25%.
Shaarawi said that, in the implementation of the President's directives, a plan to develop competitive clusters in the two governorates has been prepared, and implementation is expected to start in four blocs soon, with investments of LE 572 million.
The plan includes a package of infrastructure projects, technical support, and training for workers and owners of these conglomerates and regions in which productive activities are practiced, which will contribute to a significant shift in the level and quality of production and, by extension, the profitability of workers in this sector. A plan will be developed and implemented to develop six other conglomerates during the next phase of the program.
Shaarawi explained that there is great praise for the environmental and community system applied in the program during the planning, design, and implementation of projects, as the Prime Minister directed that this model be circulated. Coordination is underway with the ministries of planning and environment in this regard, he said, noting that one of the most important developments that are considered for the program is keenness on adherence to environmental, health and occupational safety and social considerations during project implementation, which greatly contributed to limiting the spread of the Coronavirus among workers in ongoing projects, reducing the number of infections, and maintaining the continuity of projects.
Shaarawi praised the efforts made by the team of the Coordinating Office and the partner ministries in the program during the last period and stressed that the program contributed to achieving a distinguished model for coordination and cooperation between all the ministries, partner bodies, and the two governorates.
For his part, Major General Tarek El-Fiqi, Governor of Sohag, explained that the development of programs and areas of local development work that were reviewed and updated within the framework of the Local Development Program in Upper Egypt contributed to enhancing the ability of the local administration to quickly respond to the needs of citizens in providing services.
Major General Ashraf Al-Daoudi, Governor of Qena, indicated that the program contributed to real decentralization and to empower localities to manage development in all fields through participatory and institutional work systems and mechanisms.
Dr. Hisham El-Helbawi, Program Manager, noted that the two main objectives of the program are to raise the efficiency of infrastructure and local administration, enhance local economic development and competitive advantage, and improve the business environment and climate for investors.
Al-Helbawi discussed the developments of the executive and financial position of the program and the results of the performance evaluations achieved for the year 2020, whose outputs were praised by the World Bank team, the independent verification point and performance evaluator, and the plan to develop the institutional framework of the program, which includes the Economic Council, which acts as a consultative mechanism for the governorates in the field of economic and social development and local implementation units in the governorates.
Al-Helbawi reviewed the program’s role in the fields of job creation, industrial development, infrastructure, roads and transportation, improving the environment, and supporting local units, as the program’s biggest contributions so far have been in the fields of job creation, infrastructure, roads, and transportation, which is in line with the state’s orientations.
The program and the governorates of Sohag and Qena have also signed a cooperation protocol with the Ministry of Health and Population to support health activities and limit the spread of the Coronavirus. The plan for the year 2020/21 includes raising the efficiency of hospitals by a value of LE 67 million in Sohag and LE 106 million for Qena hospitals with the participation of the Ministry of Health with LE 51 million.