Madbouli said today’s gathering comes as part of the meetings that are set to be held with the parliament’s ad-hoc committees on a regular basis; with a view to discussing key files in various State sectors, and considering the demands raised in each sector.

Those meetings constitute an opportunity to review the plans and projects of various ministries, the prime minister said, noting that what is a matter of concern for the State in the files of agriculture and irrigation is the scarcity of water amid a growing demand by the country‘s surging population.

As the quantity of water available in Egypt has seen no change for nearly 50 years despite a rapid population increase by no less than 40 million, the State has been spending hundreds of billions of pounds to preserve each drop of water, Madbouli said.

In the same regard, the premier added that the State is working to increase the cultivated areas of land, with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi expressing keenness on constantly following up the updates of that file, especially as regards efforts meant to increase the cultivated land via the reclamation of over two million feddans