EGYPT – The Arab Republic of Egypt and the State of Kuwait have signed two deals that will accelerate the implementation of phase two of Sinai development programme.
The first deal signed between the two countries was on the framework agreement to fund the second phase of Sinai development programme. The total amount of funds included in the first deal was US$1 billion.
The second deal was worth US$86 million to be used in the completion of infrastructure projects in the Sinai Peninsula.
The two deals were signed in the presence of Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Hamad Al Sabah in October this year.
The two agreements were co-signed by Investment Minister Sahar Nasr and Sheikh Sabah Al Khaled Al Hamad Al Sabah, the Kuwaiti foreign minister, who also heads the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED).
Nasr also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Kuwaiti Minister of Commerce and Industry Khaled Al-Roudhan to increase direct investments between the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority (KDIPA).
After the signing of the deals, Egypt’s investment minister said that those agreements come as part of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s directives to provide the necessary funding for development projects in Sinai.
The minister revealed that the second phase of Sinai’s development programme includes the establishment of roads and drinking water networks and housing units, with a view to enhancing services offered to Sinai residents.
She also noted that free zones will be built within the programme’s second stage to lure investments into the peninsula.
The investment minister said the provision of infrastructure projects in Sinai will greatly contribute to improving services offered to residents.
She added that the infrastructure projects would also create employment for the sinai people while at the same time boosting internal and external trade, in addition to stimulating tourism.
On his part, the Kuwaiti foreign minister said the KFAED was keen on strengthening its partnership with Egypt, especially with regard to the Sinai development programme.
The Sinai development programme was unveiled by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah in 2018 al-Sisi and it seeks to introduce huge agricultural, mining, industrial and tourist investments to Sinai.
Once successfully implemented, the project would modernise the Sinai Peninsula, an area of more than 60,000 sq.km that is home to more than 400,000 people and transform it to a major economic hub in the country.
