El-Gazzar Presents to His Angolan Counterpart The Urban Experience That Egypt Is Witnessing

Dr. Assem El Gazzar Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, met at the headquarters of the Ministry of Housing in the New Administrative Capital, Angola’s Minister of Public Works, Urbanism, and Housing Carlos Alberto Gregrio dos Santos, and Mr. Nelson Cosme and Ambassador of the Republic of Angola to Cairo, and their accompanying delegation, to present the urban experience of Egypt, during the era of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi, in the presence of Ministry officials and Eng. Ahmed El Assar – CEO & Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company.

Dr. Assem El Gazzar welcomed his Angolan counterpart and his accompanying delegation, stressing Egypt's full readiness to share its vast experiences in the urban development field and bilateral cooperation with our brothers in Angola, whether in the field of capacity-building, exchange of experiences, or participation in the implementation of projects through the Egyptian contracting companies, which have extensive experience in the implementation of various projects and are fully prepared to participate in the implementation of various projects in Angola through their cadres and equipment, and by providing the necessary materials for the implementation of urban development projects.

The Minister of Housing confirmed that the Egyptian contracting companies, whether private or public sector companies, led by the Arab Contractors Company, have accumulated great experience in implementing various urban development projects, whether in the production of building materials, the capabilities of human cadres, the volume of equipment, or highly trained workers.

The total number of companies operating in various projects nationwide has reached about 3,000 companies, and those companies are now able to implement various projects abroad, especially for our brothers in Africa.

The Minister explained that the Arab Contractors Company implements a number of development projects for our brothers in African countries, and on top of these projects is Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant and Dam on Rufiji River, in cooperation with Elsewedy Electric, which is also an Egyptian company.

The project is followed up directly by the political leadership, which directs the Ministry of Housing to follow up on projects implemented by Egyptian companies for our brothers in Africa.

Dr. Assem El Gazzar pointed out that 60 years ago, Egypt sought the help of Russian experts to construct the High Dam, and here we are today,through the Egyptian alliance of the "Arab Contractors – Elsewedy Electric" companies, cooperating with our brothers in Tanzania to construct a dam on Rufiji River. Its ability to generate electricity exceeds the capacity of the High Dam; and this emphasized that through bilateral African cooperation, we can help each other and achieve comprehensive development for the peoples of the African continent.

For his part, Angola’s Minister of Public Works, Urbanism and Housing Carlos Alberto Gregrio dos Santos, expressed his happiness about his presence in Egypt at the head of a senior delegation that included officials of the Ministry of Housing and heads of contracting companies that assisted Angola in implementing development projects, stated that the day he visited the New Administrative Capital in Egypt was one of the most beautiful days of his life, as he saw the transformation of the dream into reality byimplementing the New Administrative Capital.

The Angolan Minister of Housing added that the capital of Angola suffers from the same problems as the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and this puts his ministry in a challenge to establish a new administrative political center.

He explained that his current visit to Egypt allows him and his accompanying delegation to explore the Egyptian urban experience, especially in the implementation of the New Administrative Capital.

Angola’s Minister of Public Works, Urbanism and Housing, Carlos Alberto Gregrio dos Santos said that he witnessed the Egyptian experience in the implementation of housing units of various types appropriate for all levels of society, and this facilitated a way for bilateral cooperation.

We also look forward to bilateral cooperation and benefit from the Egyptian experience in the implementation of roads and axes to connect urban areas, as well as the implementation of utilities and infrastructure projects.

Mr. Carlos Alberto Gregrio dos Santos declared that there has been an agreement for bilateral cooperation between Angola and Egypt since 2003, and he came to Egypt to strengthen this cooperation and turn it into a tangible reality between the two sides.

He thanked the Minister of Housing and officials of the ministry for giving them the opportunity to explore the Egyptian urban experience, to benefit from it.

He invited Dr. Assem El Gazzar to visit the Republic of Angola, to benefit from his expertise in urban development.

The two ministers agreed to form specialized working groups from both sides in the areas of capacity building, the construction of housing units, slum development, the implementation of roads, axes, and bridges, water and wastewater projects, and other fields during the Angolan delegation's visit to Egypt to turn this visit into an action plan.

The Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, Assem El Gazzar, said that Egypt’s Strategic National plan for urban development 2052 aims at doubling the current urban area to reach ??14% through a number of development axes represented by a national road network currently being implemented, as well as the new cities which have been recently launched and the volume of roads and axes that have been implemented has doubled what was implemented in Egypt during the previous periods.

The Minister of Housing dealt with the experience of the Egyptian state in establishing new cities, as this experience is one of the largest experiences in the world, if not the largest experience ever.

We have dozens of new cities, including 14 cities that have been implemented during the last period.

Smart and sustainable one , taking into account environmental standards and climate changes, and expanding the use of new and renewable energy in it , and working to achieve a quality of life for citizens, and the population of new cities is about 10 million, equivalent to 10% of the population of the Republic, and these cities provide all services that population needs.

The minister explained that the main goal of urban development is economic development, as urbanization is the vessel of development, opening new horizons for development, providing more investment opportunities and more job opportunities, as well as absorbing the population increase, and at the same time, allowing the state to develop the existing urbanization.

The new cities serve as centers for financial and business leadership, and help the old urbanization in performing its tasks and perform the new tasks.

Models of the new cities and the projects implemented in them were reviewed.

Dr. Assem Al-Jazzar referred to the strategy of the Ministry of Housing, in implementing the presidential directives, to provide housing units for all citizens in a manner commensurate with their needs and capabilities.

Where the Ministry worked in a number of axes, the first of which is total support for the incapable groups, as it eliminated unsafe slum areas, and 250,000 housing units were established to relocate the residents of those areas, and all units were furnished for free.

The minister added that the second axis, which is partial support by providing one million housing units in the social housing axis for the youth and low-income category, and providing a financing system suitable for this segment, which is the title of success for this project.

As for the third axis, it is represented in supporting the middle-income category, by providing suitable housing units for them.

While the fourth axis is represented in making luxury housing units available to those with higher incomes, achieving some returns, and re-injecting them to support the eligible groups, and this is a practical implementation of the principle of social justice.

Dr. Assem Al-Jazzar also confirmed that what has been achieved in the drinking water and sanitation facilities sector is a qualitative leap during the last period.

Dr. Sayed Ismail, Deputy Minister for Infrastructure, explained the ministry's policy of maximizing the use of all available water resources, as 97 desalination plants has been established with a capacity of 1.5 million cubic meters per day.

A strategic plan for desalination of sea water was set until 2050, with a total capacity of 8.8 million cubic meters per day.

The Deputy Minister for Infrastructure indicated that the state's vision in implementing the desalination strategy is to rely on the private sector (we currently have about 200 companies working in utility projects, most of them from the private sector) through long-term partnership, and the localization of private industries in the sector, to serve the Egyptian and African markets.

He explained that in 2014, the sanitation service in the countryside was 12%, and currently it has reached 44%, and the percentage of urban sanitation service has increased to 96%, and the presidential initiative aims to cover the entire Egyptian countryside with sanitation services through 3 phases.

Completion of the implementation of the first of them, and preparation for the implementation of the second and third phases.

It should be noted that Mr. Carlos Alberto Dosanto, Minister of Public Works, Urban and Housing of the State of Angola, and Ambassador Nelson Manuel Cosme, Ambassador of Angola to Cairo, and their accompanying delegation, toured the projects of the New Administrative Capital, which included the central business district, and the "Capital Park" project.

And other projects, and listened to a detailed explanation of the New Administrative Capital projects, from Eng. Sherif El-Sherbiny, Head of theNew Administrative Capital Development Agency.