Egypt’s Planning Minister receives MPs questions on the ministry's position regarding the implementation of the government program

D. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, delivered recently a statement on the ministry's position regarding the implementation of the government program, during its participation in the twenty-second legislative session of the current session of the Parliament.
El-Said during her response to the questions of the members of the Parliament asserted that all governorates of Egypt are dealt with the same degree of fairness in distribution, following up that a great deal of balance is taken into account by increasing public investments by a large percentage annually while preserving to reduce the deficit rates.In response to a question about the Egyptian villages, El-Said explained that the distribution at the governorate level is according to indicators that are approved by the Plan and Budget Committee, given the percentage of poverty in the governorate, the number of residents, the percentage of illiterate people, and the unemployment rate in the governorate, not just the population. El-Said pointed to the sanitation problem as one of the problems facing all villages and governorates in Egypt, explaining that the coverage rate reached 24% two years ago, rising to 38% during the two years.El-Said stressed that it is a very large percentage and boom, given that the volume of sanitation investments accounts for 60% of total spending, which represents a large volume of investment directed to sanitation.Regarding the questions directed about the Decent Life Initiative, El-Said referred to the President’s directives regarding the Decent Life Initiative in its first and second stages, explaining that the initiative targets 4,500 villages over 3 years with investments amounting to more than 500 billion.

El-Said indicated that the investments for the first year exceeded EGP 150 billion, stressing the concerted efforts between all state agencies to accelerate the implementation of these projects in 3 years.El-Said answered questions related to the study of income and expenditure and how the poverty rate decreased, explaining that the income and spending research was conducted by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).El-Said stressed that the research is based on real data, following up that the research was stopped before Covid-19, as it is not possible to continue research that has a time series and is compared in exceptional circumstances, adding that that research is conducted every two years, so it must be completed and stopped at a period that is not exceptional.
El-Said pointed out that to conduct a sound economic comparison, the comparison must be for stable economic, political, and social periods, noting that this research must take place in stable conditions.About questions about decentralization, El-Said noted that the year 2021/2022 for the first time witnesses the distribution of investments directed to centers, not governorates, with an average increase of 50% at the level of centers, pointing out that the general planning law includes a large amount of it on the decentralization policy.El-Said added that speaking of true decentralization, it cannot be implemented in light of the existence of an institutional and human structure that needs rehabilitation and upgrading of competencies, adding that to implement decentralization there must be a strong human and institutional structure that can efficiently implement decentralization so that there is no waste of resources.In response to the questions related to the increase in the population and the volume of foreign investments, El-Said indicated that despite the increase in the population, the savings rates are low, which is reflected in the rates of investment in output. El-Said also answered the questions related to Egypt’s Vision 2030, explaining that the vision was established in February 2016, confirming that it is a living document and therefore there are consequences and needs that the state had to consider updating the vision, confirming that there is agreement on the goals, but the way to implement that goal is the one that changes based on the targets.El-Said explained that the vision has been updated based on the economic reform program that was implemented for the first time in Egypt, adding that this program had consequences that must be reflected in the vision and merge some issues that were not included in the vision, such as the issue of financial inclusion, population growth and the issue of water scarcity.




El-Said responded to the question related to the structural reform program, saying that for the first time Egypt is implementing this program, as it includes many details and many measures that are taken with all the concerned ministries so that the economy is diversified, explaining that the most prominent thing is the flexibility of the labor market.El-Said stressed the importance of the flexibility of the labor market and the efficiency of vocational training in a country with technology and a large proportion of young people like Egypt, pointing to coordination to provide a council for each sector that defines its specifications as vocational training, linking educational outputs to technical schools and establishing technological schools and colleges.Concerning the question about untapped assets and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), El-Said explained that these assets are counted according to the data obtained from the governorates, with a committee to go down to follow up on those assets on the ground, and on the (TSFE) and the ministries, El-Said pointed out that the fund was able to carry out a large group of Important partnerships, whether in heavy industries or investment programs.
In response to the question related to education, El-Said pointed to the importance of education in building people, changing societies, and sustaining economic growth. Therefore, it has priority in distributing investments, pointing to the decrease in unemployment rates and the increase in employment rates during the current period.El-Said stressed that the labor market is dynamic and needs specializations and skills that are not available among graduates of traditional universities, so there is an increase in unemployment among these graduates, so there was a tendency to establish technological universities and applied for colleges. El-Said added that there is a three-year plan to reduce the density of seasons in the governorates, and the density has decreased in some governorates.
El-Said explained that there is a medium-term plan that stems from Egypt's Vision 2030, pointing out that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, during the past year, prepared a report entitled Building Harvest, and field follow-up will be made available to the honorable Council members to follow up the implementation of the investment plan on the ground.
In response to the question about the family development plan, El-Said stressed that it is done through controlling population growth, improving the characteristics of the population and the quality of life of the citizen, such as education, health, job opportunities, economic empowerment, and culture, pointing out that in the last 9 years the increase in the population has reached 20 Million citizens.


El-Said emphasized that the increase in population growth rates eats away the results and fruits of development and reduces per capita spending on education, health, housing, transportation, and transportation.
In response to the question related to the Government Excellence Award, El-Said indicated that it aims to stimulate and spread the culture of quality and excellence in government institutions.“The number of Excellence Awards has been increased from 15 awards in the first cycle to 19 awards in the second cycle, an increase of 27%, and an increase in the number of trainees from 3699 trainees in the first session to 6660 trainees in the second session, an increase of 80%,” El-Said said