Egypt’s Gov’t directs EGP 7 billion in public investment to Ismailia Governorate for FY 22/23: Minister of Planning

The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development issued a report detailing the features of the Citizen Investment Plan for Ismailia governorate for 2022/23 as part of its ongoing effort to announce citizen investment plans for all governorates for the fourth consecutive year.

The ministry said that this announcement aims to raise awareness regarding the state directive and the priorities of the sustainable development plan for the fiscal year 2022/23. This is to achieve Egypt’s Vision 2030.

The Minister of Planning and Economic Development, H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, stressed the importance of civic participation and its role as the main guarantee for the consolidation of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) on the local level, achieving balanced regional development, and mending the development gap between governorates as per the Egypt Vision 2030 and the 17th UN SDG, "Partnerships for the Goals."

Furthermore, El-Said added that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development is eager to involve citizens at all stages of the development process, including planning, monitoring, and evaluation. 

She also explained that the ministry was taking swift steps towards creating a strong partnership with the citizens, either by providing them with detailed annual data related to sustainable development plans, issuing frequent monitoring and evaluation reports, or proposing priority initiatives and projects in the framework of a comprehensive and integrated participatory approach following the Leave no one behind (LNOB) principle.

Regarding Ismailia’s Citizen Investment Plan, El-Said reported that 307 projects are to be executed with EGP 7 billion in general investments directed towards the governorate in the 2022/23 plan, a 29.6% increase compared to the previous year, in addition to the "Decent Life" initiative targeting the development of Egyptian rural areas.

Regarding the sectoral division of the general investments directed towards Ismailia as part of the 2022–23 plan, the report indicated that EGP 3.1 billion is directed towards the Suez Canal, with 44.3% of the whole budget for the governorate, followed by EGP 807.4 million directed towards higher education and scientific research, with 11.5%. The health sector receives EGP 740.3 million with 10.6%, the local development sector gets EGP 617.5 million with 8.8%, the housing sector receives EGP 554 million with 8%, and other sectors receive EGP 1.2 billion with 17% of the investments directed towards the governorate.

The report sheds light on the "Decent Life" initiative, stating that 55 thousand beneficiaries were included in the first phase of the initiative. While it indicated the most critical developmental projects executed in Ismailia to achieve the SDGs are represented by building 10 ambulance points, a central hospital, 3 family development centers, 3 potable water stations, 4 sewage and sanitation projects, 3 water distillation stations, 12 fiber optics and cellular network towers, 11 youth centers, 4 government services complexes, 2 post offices, 3 police stations, lining a total of 22km long canals, and paving a total of 147 km long roads.

Finally, the report pointed out the most significant local development targets in the 2022-23 development plan, represented by paving local roads worth EGP 207.4 million and directing EGP 65 million towards supporting the electricity network around the governorate through 157 projects.