Sayed Ismail, deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Ministry of Housing, Utilities, and Urban communities, participates in the 11th World Water-Tech Innovation Summit under the slogan “Building Climate Resilience in Water”, which is being held in London, Invest-Gate reports.
According to the ministry’s official statement, this summit includes more than 250 participants and 90 speakers from 46 countries, representing utilities, regulators, engineering firms, technology giants, start-ups, and investors to share their experiences.
During the summit, Ismail presents the international market opportunities that includes an overview of developments in the water and wastewater utility sector in Egypt and the opportunities available to British companies.
Also, he presents the current situation of drinking water and sewage services in Egypt, where the drinking water coverage is about 98.7%, and the sewage services coverage is 66.7%, and it is planned to reach 100% under the “Hayah Karima” initiative.
As Ismail explains, the Egyptian state’s tendency to expand water desalination plants to bridge the gap between Egypt’s share of the Nile and the continuous increase in demand for water due to the increasing rates of population growth and climate change. The state also has decided to feed some areas far from the Nile.
He points out that the first phase of the desalination plan that was launched in 2017 with the aim of reaching 1.3 mn sqm/day of desalinated water is currently underway, as the construction of 81 desalination plants with a total capacity of about 917,000 sqm/day has already been completed. Moreover, 10 desalination plants with a total capacity of about 462k sqm/day are under construction, bringing the total capacity to 1.4 mn sqm/day of desalinated water.
Ismail stresses the continued interest of the political leadership and the government in serving rural areas and providing a decent life for citizens in the Egyptian countryside and achieving quality life of citizens in the Egyptian countryside through the implementation of several integrated development projects at a total cost of about USD 40 bn, half of this cost is for drinking water and sewage projects.
In this context, he explains that the Ministry of Housing is in the process of developing a national strategy for the drinking water and sewage utilities sector that is consistent with the sustainable development goals of the United Nations and Egypt’s sustainable development strategy of Egypt Vision 2030.
He concludes by reviewing the projects that are financed in Egypt through development partners, that more than 16 partners for about 39 projects at a total cost of USD 5.4 bn, of which USD 2.2 bn are financed by European development partners, in addition to the investment opportunities currently available for the planned projects.
