UAE hands over 4 major development projects in Egypt

The UAE has handed over four major development projects in transportation, healthcare and education in Egypt, UAE authorities said in a statement.

The projects include 100 schools, 78 health clinics, four bridges and 600 public city buses for Egypt – all of which are part of the development aid pledged a year ago.

The total programme is projected to benefit more than 10 million Egyptians and create approximately 900,000 temporary and permanent jobs.

Schools, funded by the UAE government, will fulfil about 7 per cent of the requirements for educational facilities in rural areas and accommodate 67,000 students. They are also expected to solve the problem of over crowded classrooms.

Meanwhile, the clinics will provide 780,000 rural residents with access to healthcare, meeting nearly 20 per cent of the immediate requirements.

Transportation projects such as the new bridges and public city buses are expected to impact three million commuters in the country.

These are in addition to two other major projects that were handed over this year, the UAE authorities added. The UAE funded a 10 megawatt solar power plant in Siwa and delivered 50,000 units to the ministry of housing in June 2015.

Egypt’s prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab said that the country has already started to feel the positive impact of aid in the form of social welfare projects.

The UAE and other Gulf Arab countries promised more than $12bn in financial aid after the country ousted former president and Muslim Brotherhood figure Mohammed Mursi in 2013.

But Egyptian officials have admitted to receiving far more than the initial sum of aid promised.

Earlier this year, Egypt’s investment minister Ashraf Salman said the country had received aid worth $23bn from the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait since the removal of Mursi.

This aid has helped prevent social unrest while lending legitimacy to the government of Abdel Fatteh El-Sisi- a leader that the three Gulf Arab nations strongly favour to helm one of the largest Arab countries in the world.

The UAE has also provided further support by encouraging its successful firms to invest in the Arab country.

Local firms including real estate company Emaar and retail conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim have announced investments amounting to millions of dollars in Egypt.