The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development issued a report reviewing the features of the Citizen Investment Plan in the New Valley Governorate for the fiscal year 2020/21, as part of the continuation of announcing the plan in all governorates of Egypt for the second year in a row, intending to activate community participation and involve citizens in planning and follow-up.
Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, said that the medium-term sustainable development plan attaches great importance to spatial justice, health, education, and the use of economic resources and others, which represents a positive impact on society from the perspective of cohesion, stability, and sustainable inclusive growth, as well as achieving comprehensive and balanced development between the various regions and governorates of the Egypt, which is a central goal around which economic and social development plans revolve.
El-Said explained that the launch of the Citizen Investment Plan comes within the framework of the continuous keenness to link the planning process with Egypt’s Vision 2030, the localization of sustainable development goals, and a continuation of the participatory approach adopted by the ministry with all development partners, in a manner that establishes the principles of governance and accountability, and the transparency of the state’s development plan.
El-Said stressed that the New Valley Governorate has many promising investment opportunities and great competitive capabilities that contribute to creating more decent job opportunities, pointing to the importance of the localization process in the governorate to take advantage of the resources it enjoys and exploit them.
Regarding the Citizen Investment Plan in the New Valley Governorate, El-Said explained that the number of development projects in the governorate has reached 153 projects and that the value of public investments directed to the New Valley Governorate in the 2020/21 plan is LE 5.8 billion, an increase of 21% over the plan for the year 2019/20, representing 2 5% of distributed public investments.
Regarding the sectorial distribution of public investments targeted in the New Valley Governorate in the 2020/21 plan, the minister indicated that investments worth LE 1.5 billion will be directed to the housing sector, at a rate of 25.5%, the petroleum sector is allocated investments worth LE 1.7 billion, a rate of 29.3%, allocating LE 366.5 million to the higher education sector at 6.4%, and to allocating LE 276 million to the local development sector, at 4.8%, in addition to directing LE 593.4 million to other sectors, at a rate of 10%.
The report of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development indicated that the most important development targets in the housing sector in the New Valley Governorate in the 2020/21 plan are to direct LE 283.8 million for water and sanitation. The most important sector projects are to complete the development of unplanned areas in the governorate with an area of 101.7 feddans, in addition to the completion of the construction and paving of a 285 km link between Farafra and Dairout in the New Valley in the Kharga Police Station.
In the field of electricity services, the most important projects, according to the report, are the completion of the electrical supply for the eastern Al-Owainat region through the national electricity network for LE 665 million, in addition to securing the electrical supply for the eastern Al-Owainat region for LE 705 million, as well as completing the regional development centers and spreading scientific culture, completing the construction of the College of Veterinary Medicine building in the governorate, completing the building of the College of Agriculture, and rehabilitating the building of the College of Human Medicine.
About the development goals of the local development sector in the 2020/21 plan in the governorate, the report pointed out that the plan aims to pave local roads at about LE 94.8 million, directing LE 29.7 million to strengthen the electricity networks in the governorate.
As for the features of the Decent Life Initiative in the New Valley Governorate, the report of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development indicated that 12 villages in the governorate have benefited from the initiative and that the volume of the initiative’s investments in the governorate amounts to LE 400 million, while the number of beneficiaries is about 203,000 citizens.
The Citizen Investment Plan includes the most prominent features of the sustainable development plan for the fiscal year 2020/21 at the national level, and the most important economic indicators for each governorate represented in the gross domestic product, the real growth rate, the unemployment rate, the number of workers and others, in addition to the value of public investments, the number of projects directed to the governorate in the 2020/21 plan, its distribution to the various sectors, and the number of projects being implemented in each governorate.