Her Excellency (H.E.) Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, Presents the 2025/2026 Economic and Social Development Plan to the Egyptian Parliament
Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, presented the efforts and targets for promoting spatial, local, and rural development, environmental improvement, and the transition to a green economy in the draft economic and social development plan for FY 2025/2026, as part of the medium-term plan (2025/2026 – 2028/2029), during the General Session of the House of Representatives held today, chaired by Chancellor Dr. Hanafy Gebaly, Speaker of the House, and attended by members of parliament.
During her speech, Dr. Al-Mashat emphasized that with regards to enhancing spatial and local development, the plan is keen on allocating the necessary financial resources to improve services for citizens across various governorates. It also adheres to applying indicators that reflect developmental gaps, ensuring equitable distribution of investments across governorates. Public investments allocated to local development amount to EGP 28 billion in FY 2025/2026, with EGP 24.3 billion allocated to governorates, and the remainder to the Ministry of Local Development's general office. Investment distribution across local development programs is planned as follows: 56% for local roads, transportation, and mobility; 11% each for enhancing local and community services, and local administration and technical support programs; 8% each for environmental improvement and rural/urban development programs; and 6% for local economic development.
Local development projects include paving 1,525 internal roads, lighting 750 streets, constructing and upgrading six public transportation hubs, developing 64 markets and exhibitions, continuing the construction and development of 30 slaughterhouses, and implementing the 100 Million Trees initiative, in addition to solid waste management and major renovation projects. Regional investment allocation ensures that approximately 35% of total local development investments are directed to Upper Egypt governorates to reduce developmental disparities.
To incentivize governorates to improve performance levels, the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation continues implementing the 'Performance Excellence Incentives Initiative' for local-level investment management, awarding governorates that apply best international practices in planning, monitoring, and performance evaluation. In FY 2024/2025, eight governorates won awards totaling EGP 300 million.
The plan also aims to intensify development efforts for comprehensive economic and social growth in North and South Sinai, with 15% of local investments allocated to these two governorates for implementing several projects, including the establishment of 18 agricultural and development clusters, construction of irrigation networks for reclaimed lands, and road expansions, including five major road development projects in South Sinai such as the upgrading of the Dahab/Nuweiba road (50 km), Sharm El Sheikh/Dahab (80 km), Nuweiba/Naqb (60 km), and the first phase of the Tunnel/Taba road (26 km).
Dr. Al-Mashat affirmed that the Egyptian state is increasingly prioritizing localizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to their impact in supporting inclusive and sustainable growth, and balanced regional development—key pillars of Egypt's Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030. The state continues its collaboration with development partners to formulate and implement evidence-based policies for achieving the SDGs at the local level.
To this end, the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, in collaboration with the United Nations, released two editions of the 'Localizing the SDGs at the Governorate Level' reports in 2021 and 2025. These reports aim to provide an overview of each governorate's performance in achieving the SDGs, and to use the data strategically to highlight areas requiring more attention, design suitable policies and programs to enhance local performance, accelerate SDG implementation, and enable performance comparison and ranking among governorates.
In rural development, Dr. Al-Mashat highlighted that the 2025/2026 plan seeks to continue implementing Phase II of the 'Decent Life' initiative. This phase spans 20 governorates, encompassing 52 centers and a total of 1,667 villages, home to 21.3 million people. The plan targets EGP 25 billion to initiate implementation of Phase II goals in drinking water and sanitation, aiming to raise wastewater coverage to at least 90% in these villages through 698 integrated wastewater projects, 97 treatment plants with a combined capacity of one million cubic meters per day, and 1.8 million household wastewater connections.
The plan also targets full coverage in drinking water services by establishing and upgrading 18 water stations, expanding and reinforcing 2,350 km of water networks, and delivering 315,000 household water connections.
In the area of environmental improvement and green economy transition, Dr. Al-Mashat said the ministry is enhancing green investments and supporting sustainable infrastructure as part of the state's broader green economy shift. This is being realized by continuing to integrate environmental dimensions into planning through the implementation of the 'Environmental Sustainability Standards Guide.'
Under these standards, the share of green investment projects in the FY 2025/2026 investment plan is targeted to reach approximately 55% of total public investments, up from 50% in the current fiscal year (2024/2025), and from 15% in FY 2020/2021. The upcoming plan directs investments toward climate change mitigation projects such as smart and green transport, renewable energy, solid waste management systems, and afforestation projects.
The plan also includes climate change adaptation projects such as the rehabilitation and upgrading of drinking water stations and networks, desalination plants, and wastewater treatment plants, as well as desertification control, soil improvement in old agricultural lands, natural reserve management, development of water resources using groundwater and rainwater harvesting, and upgrading irrigation channels to modern systems. Coastal and shoreline protection and development are also featured.
She added that the plan aims to continue implementing a set of initiatives supporting the green transition, including the "Green Labeling of Public Investments" initiative. This involves tracking and measuring investments directed towards green projects listed in the investment plan, as part of the integrated system for preparing and monitoring the investment plan. The system includes the classification of 160 areas into projects targeting climate change adaptation and projects focused on mitigation. It also involves assessing climate change risks, with the goal of activating interactive maps showing the risks, threats, and anticipated impacts of climate change across various sectors and regions. The initiative also includes establishing an early warning system, preparing risk assessment plans for threatened areas, and managing climate-related disasters.
She also highlighted the Climate Technology Competition, which aims to encourage startups, entrepreneurs, innovators, and specialists to contribute ideas and innovative solutions to address climate change and its negative impacts on development efforts. Additionally, she referred to the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects, which aims to create a governorate-level map of green and smart projects and connect them with funding entities, both domestic and international, to attract the necessary investments.
She pointed to the "Green Village" initiative, which aims to prepare villages under the 'Decent Life' (Hayah Karima) program to align with the latest global environmental standards set by the World Green Building Council, and to obtain the 'Tarsheed' certification for green rural communities. The initiative focuses on three main pillars: energy, water, and resources. Four villages have already received the certification: El-Liwaa Sobeh village in New Valley Governorate (2024), Shamma village in Menoufia (2024), Nahtai village in Gharbia (2023), Fares village in Aswan (2022). The goal is to qualify the remaining villages in the coming phase.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation - Egypt.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Filipino Times
6 hours ago
- Filipino Times
House prosecutors press on with Duterte impeachment prep despite Senate doubts
The House prosecution team continues to prepare for the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte, even as uncertainty looms over whether the Senate will push through with it, San Juan Rep. Ysabel Zamora said. Zamora, a member of the panel, expressed surprise over draft resolutions reportedly circulating in the Senate — including one from Sen. Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa — that aim to dismiss the impeachment case outright. 'The mere drafting of this document shows that they were willing to violate the Constitution, the supreme law of the land,' Zamora said. Despite the emerging doubts, Zamora said House prosecutors remain unfazed. 'We are not affected by what's going on in the Senate, the draft resolution, the comments that we hear from the senators,' she said, emphasizing that the House is simply fulfilling its constitutional mandate. 'They have no other duty or mandate but to hold trial.' House Assistant Majority Leader Zia Alonto Adiong of Lanao del Sur echoed the sentiment, warning that dismissing the case without trial would raise serious constitutional questions. 'It would open up the floodgates of constitutional concerns that would definitely not be beneficial to the country,' he said. While House prosecutors insist the case must proceed to trial, they also clarified that withdrawing the complaint is not on the table.
Al Etihad
20 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Trump says Musk relationship over, warns of 'serious consequences' if he funds Democrats
7 June 2025 22:33 BEDMINSTER (Reuters)Donald Trump said on Saturday his relationship with his billionaire donor Elon Musk is over and warned there would be "serious consequences" if Musk funds US Democrats running against Republicans who vote for the president's sweeping tax and spending a telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to say what those consequences would be, and went on to add that he had not had discussions about whether to investigate if he thought his relationship with the Tesla and SpaceX CEO was over, Trump said, "I would assume so, yeah.""No," Trump told NBC when asked if he had any desire to repair his relationship with Musk."I have no intention of speaking to him," Trump Trump said he had not thought about terminating US government contracts with Musk's StarLink satellite internet or SpaceX rocket launch companies. Musk and Trump began exchanging insults this week, as Musk denounced Trump's bill as a "disgusting abomination." Musk's opposition to the measure complicated efforts to pass the legislation in Congress, where Republicans hold only slim majorities in the House of Representatives and bill narrowly passed the House last month and is now before the Senate, where Trump's fellow Republicans are considering making changes. Nonpartisan analysts estimate the measure would add $2.4 trillion to the $36.2 trillion US debt over 10 years, which worries many lawmakers, including some Republicans who are fiscal said on Saturday he is confident the bill would get passed by the US on July 4 Independence Day holiday."In fact, yeah, people that were, were going to vote for it are now enthusiastically going to vote for it, and we expect it to pass," Trump told have strongly backed Trump's initiatives since he began his second term as president on January 20. While some Republican lawmakers have made comments to the news media expressing concern about some of Trump's choices, they have yet to vote down any of his policies or nominations. DELETED MUSK POSTS Musk has deleted some social media posts critical of Trump, including one that signaled support for impeaching the president, appearing to seek a de-escalation of their public feud, which exploded on Thursday. During his first term as president, the House, then controlled by Democrats, twice voted to impeach Trump but the Senate both times acquitted White House and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Saturday on the deleted posts. People who have spoken to Musk said his anger has begun to recede and they thought he would want to repair his relationship with of the X posts that Musk appeared to have deleted was a response to another user posting: "President vs Elon. Who wins? My money's on Elon. Trump should be impeached and (Vice President) JD Vance should replace him." Musk had written "yes."On Theo Von's "This Past Weekend" podcast - recorded on Thursday as the feud between Trump and Musk unfolded and released on Saturday - Vance called Musk's criticism of Trump a "huge mistake.""I'm always going to be loyal to the president, and I hope that eventually Elon kind of comes back into the fold. Maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear. But I hope it is," said Vance, describing Musk as an "incredible entrepreneur."Trump named Musk to head an effort to downsize the federal workforce and slash spending, lauding him at the White House only about a week ago for his work as head of the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk cut only about half of 1% of total spending, far short of his brash plans to axe $2 trillion from the federal budget.
Gulf Today
2 days ago
- Gulf Today
Outrage over Trump's electric vehicle policies is misplaced
Ashley Nunes, Tribune News Service Electric car subsidies are heading for the chopping block. A tax bill recently passed by House Republicans is set to stop billions in taxpayer cash from being spent on electric vehicle purchases. If embraced by the Senate and signed into law by President Donald Trump, the bill would gut long-standing government handouts for going electric. The move comes on the heels of another climate policy embraced by Republicans. Earlier this year, Trump announced plans to roll back burdensome rules that effectively force American consumers to buy electric, rather than gas-fueled, cars. The Environmental Protection Agency has called that move the 'biggest deregulatory action in US history.' Not everyone sees it that way. Jason Rylander, legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, assailed Trump's efforts, noting that his 'administration's ignorance is trumped only by its malice toward the planet.' Other similarly aligned groups have voiced similar sentiments arguing that ending these rules would 'cost consumers more, because clean energy and cleaner cars are cheaper than sticking with the fossil fuels status quo.' Backtracking on EV purchasing mandates seems to have hit Trump haters particularly hard. That mandate — established by President Joe Biden — would have pushed US automakers to sell more EVs. Millions more. Electric cars currently account for 8% of new auto sales. Biden ordered— by presidential fiat — that figure to climb to 35% by 2032. If you believe the hype, the result would be an electric nirvana, one defined by cleaner air and rampant job creation. I'm not convinced. For one thing, cleaner air courtesy of electrification requires that EVs replace gas-powered autos. They're not. In fact, study after study suggests that the purchase of EVs adds to the number of cars in a household. And two-thirds of households with an EV have another non-EV that is driven more — hardly a recipe for climate success given that EVs must be driven (a lot) to deliver climate benefits. Fewer miles driven in an EV also challenges the economic efficiency of the billions Washington spends annually to subsidise their purchase. Claims of job creation thanks to EVs are even more questionable. These claims are predicated around notions of aggressive consumer demand that drives increased EV manufacturing. This in turn creates jobs. A recent Princeton University study noted, 'Announced manufacturing capacity additions and expansions would nearly double US capacity to produce electric vehicles by 2030 and are well sized to meet expected demand for made-in-USA vehicles.' Jobs would be created if there were demand for EVs. Except that's not what's happening. Rather, consumer interest in EVs has effectively cratered. In 2024, 1.3 million EVs were sold in the United States, up from 1.2 million in 2023. This paltry increase is even more worrying given drastic price cuts seen in the EV market in 2024. Tesla knocked thousands of dollars off its best-selling Model 3 and Model Y. Ford followed suit by cutting prices on its Mach-e. So did Volkswagen and Hyundai. Despite deep discounts, consumer interest in electrification remains — to put it mildly — tepid at best. So, when people equate electrification with robust job creation, I'm left wondering what they are going on about. Even if jobs were created, EV advocates are coy about how many of those jobs would benefit existing autoworkers. Would all these workers — currently spread across large swaths of the Midwest — be guaranteed jobs on an EV assembly line? If not, how many workers should expect to receive pink slips? For those who do, will they be able to find new jobs that pay as much as their old ones? Touting job creation for political expediency is one thing. Fully recognising its impact on hardworking American families today, another. Some Americans may decry Trump's actions on climate, but they have only themselves to blame. Many of the pro-climate policies enacted, particularly during the Biden era, deliver little in the way of climate benefits (or any benefit for that matter) while making a mockery of the real economic concerns businesses and consumers have about climate action. No more. In justifying climate rollbacks, the president says many of his predecessor's policies have hurt rather than helped the American people. He's right and should be commended for doing something about it.
