Egypt trains public employees through project funded by USAID

CAIRO - 20 December 2020: The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development concluded the Planning Concepts Program for 79 employees of planning in local administrations and directorates in four governorates, as part of the ministry's efforts to raise public investment efficiency and improve citizens' lives in cooperation with the Macroeconomic Reform and Stability project funded by United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, referred to the objectives of the training program represented in linking local plans with Egypt's Vision 2030 and the economic and social development plans adopted by the state at the national level, in addition to raising the trainees capabilities to identify development gaps at the governorate, district and village levels while raising the trainees' capabilities to follow up on the implementation of projects in a way that achieves the targeted development goals.

The training takes into account the planning context of planning departments in service directorates as well as cities and centers in the governorates, she noted, adding that the program addresses the definition of what is an integrated system for following up the investment plan.

For his part, Dr. Ahmed Kamali, Deputy Minister of Planning, explained that the implementation of the Planning Concepts Program in Cities, Centers, and Governorates was followed up with the participation of 79 trainees in four governorates, namely North Sinai with 21 trainees, South Sinai with 17 trainees, Kafr El Sheikh with 22, and Matrouh with 19.

Kamali added that the importance of raising the efficiency of workers in the departments of planning and follow-up at the level of services directorates, cities, and centers in terms of providing general planning concepts lies in having the ability to draw different relationships and intertwines during the process of preparing the plan, as well as having the ability to link the financial aspect and the development impact.

Kamali pointed out that the detailed objectives of the training program are that the trainees, by the end of the program, can discuss the concept of development and planning and the importance of efficient planning in achieving development,as well as that he can define levels, stages, types of plans and the relationship between them, in addition to the trainee being able to conduct "gap analysis" and indicators.

This is in addition to being able to identify local/spatial development priorities with the ability to measure the development impact of projects, provided that the trainee will be able to make a comparison between investment projects and choose the best projects, as well as being able to prepare an annual investment plan through training and to show a positive trend towards the importance of using scientific methods in preparing and following up plans.