Egypt has signed with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development two agreements worth 2.28 billion Egyptian pounds ($127 million) for projects in Bahr El-Baqar and South Sinai .
On the sidelines of The Africa Business Forum 2018, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr inked the agreements with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Development Bank Director General, Abdel Wahab Al Badr in the presence of South Sinai governor Khaled Fouda.
The two agreements include funds to support the establishment of water system for a drain in Bahr El-Baqar to treat sewage and agricultural wastewater worth 1.4 billion Egyptian pounds. It will be inaugurated after two years in the east of Suez Canal
The 106-kilometer drain of Bahr al-Baqar starts from Dakahlia governorate to Sharqia, Ismailia to the last governorate of Port Said; the longest part locates in Sharqia governorate.
The other agreement is to fund four seawater desalination projects in South Sinai with total of 880.05 million pounds in the frame work of Sinai Development Project, Sahar Nasr said.
The desalination projects are with total capacity of 56,000 m2 per day, Nasr added.
The project aims to strengthen the system of water management through optimal use of available water resources in the peninsula.
The project includes the construction of a water treatment plant with a capacity of 5 million m3/ day to be used in the reclamation and cultivation of about 330,000 feddans east of the Suez Canal and 70,000 feddans currently cultivated in the area Al-Taina and Qantara east.
This will bring the total cultivated land to 400,000 feddans, in addition to the establishment of an integrated agricultural development project.
The minister highlighted that this would increase the quantities of exports and reduce imports, in addition to creating new job opportunities amounting to about 40,000 jobs in agriculture, agro-processing and animal production sectors.
The sustainable project will have an impact of 1.8 billion cubic meters per year of treated water, said Nasr.
The project aims to meet the growing demand for drinking water, reduce the losses in water transport networks and protect public health by providing safe drinking water to the cities in the South Sinai governorate.
Egypt is working to develop the Sinai Peninsula and improve the standard of living by providing basic services like potable water.
As part of the financing for the Sinai development and reconstruction, particularly desalination and water treatment projects, the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab and Economic Development has invested about $1.289 billion in Egypt, including $327 million for desalination plants.
Abdel Wahab Al Badr pointed out that the total number of projects financed by Kuwait Fund for Arab Development Bank in Egypt amounts to 50 projects in transport, agriculture, electricity, industry, drinking water and sanitation with total funds of $ 3.5 billion
