Study reveals 4 economic gains for development of lakes nation-wide

CAIRO – 1 September 2022: A study was issued by the Egyptian Observatory of the Egyptian Center for Thought and Strategic Studies, monitoring the economic gains for the development of lakes.

The study stated that the development of the Egyptian lakes is one of the national projects that complement the process of economic development, as a national wealth at the level of water, fish production and achieving environmental balance.

The study added that Egypt owns 14 lakes, which are: Mariot - Idku - Burullus - Manzala - Bardawil - Siwa - Bitter Lakes - Hamra Spring - Timsah Lake - Port Fouad Lake - Lake Qarun - Lake Nasser - Toshka Lakes - Lake Rayan.

It further noted that despite the importance of these lakes, they suffered years of neglect and abuse, which made them a wasted wealth, so that state institutions began to pay attention to the file of developing natural lakes at the level of the country, especially both Lake Manzala and Lake Nasser.

The economic gains for the development of lakes monitored by the study were as follows:

1-    Environmental rebalancing: The Ministry of Environment played an important role in restoring the ecological balance of the lakes by implementing protection works for 3 boreholes in Lake Manzala.

This step comes to preserve the lake from the siltation process, and to keep it open permanently, which contributed to the continuation of the water movement and the improvement of the water quality in the lake, the development of fisheries in it, the works of dredging the bottom of the lakes, and the removal of weeds that were spread in the waters of the lakes.

2- Increasing fish production: The government's strategy to benefit from lakes in developing fisheries has contributed to a significant increase in fish production over recent years.

3-    Achieving food security: One of the positive effects of working to increase fish production is achieving food security, especially at a time when the majority of the world’s countries are suffering from high indicators of poverty and food insecurity, as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and the preceding Covid-19 pandemic.

This is in addition to providing fish self-sufficiency to keep pace with population growth, as well as contributing to increasing export opportunities due to improved water quality.

On the economic side, attracting investors and providing foreign currency through the presence of real development opportunities.

4-    Providing job opportunities: The project works to provide job opportunities for fishermen or young people by completing the development cycle of Lake Nasser and Manzala, which aims to provide job opportunities in the field of fishing and fish processing, and will directly reflect on the low unemployment rate in Egypt.