'Egypt is only survivor of chaos that hit Arab world in 2011': President Sisi

CAIRO – 13 February 2023: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi spoke as guest at one of the sessions of the World Government Summit hosted by the UAE saying that Egypt is the only survivor of the chaos that hit the Arab World a decade ago, and that the country had to face parallel challenges.

President Sisi clarified that in 2011, Egyptians were fragmented and that it was a miracle that they reunited again. The bill of chaos in Egypt was $450 billion, he noted.

The Egyptian president pointed out that the electricity outages the country endured, if persisted, would cause the collapse of the country. That’s why LE1.7 trillion, when the dollar was worth LE8, were invested in the sector to resolve the crisis, he clarified.

"Egypt is now ready for electricity linkage with neighboring states by virtue of not postponing the upgrade of the sector’s infrastructure," President Sisi said.

The chief of state added that LE2 trillion were invested in the transport sector, pointing out to the need for rehabilitating and expanding the infrastructure. He further underlined that Egypt is building 24 smart cities, stipulating it was a necessity given that Egyptians had been crammed in just 5 percent of the country’s surface area.

The Egyptian president stated that the quality of education and health are very hard to enhance, stressing that Egypt needs an annual budget worth $1 trillion. Yet, he said that Egypt had already begun investing in the healthcare sector, which is most evident in the eradication of hepatitis C from the country.

As for education, the Egyptian president stated that the development of the sector needs nearly $250 billion.

"Experiencing terrorism means experiencing the bombing of schools, churches, mosques and infrastructure among others. It means a citizen telling you ‘I don’t care about food but give me security.’ That is now history," Egypt’s President Sisi underscored.

"Nevertheless, Egypt would not have made it out the crisis without our sister Arab countries," the president stressed. He reflected on the first meeting with Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed whereas Egyptians were waiting in long queues at gas stations. “Immediately, afterwards, I found Emirati ships arriving in Egypt carrying all needs of fuels,” the president underlined.

"Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed coordinated Arab efforts to support Egypt," President Sisi highlighted, urging to enlarge the amount of aid sent to Syria in the aftermath of the deadly earthquake.

The president concluded his talk at the summit by affirming that when a country turns into a failed state, it becomes almost impossible to recover.