Assar says Egypt's partnership with Germany is important

CAIRO - 21 January 2019: Egyptian Minister of State for Military Production Mohamed Saeed el Assar underlined on Monday the importance of strategic partnership between Egypt and Germany in the various domains.

He lauded Berlin's support of Cairo's integrated waste management mechanism.

Assar made the remarks during his meeting with the German State Secretary for Economy and Energy Ulrich Nußbaum in the presence of the chairman of the Arab Industrialization Organization (AIO) and the Egyptian ministers of local development and environment.

Egypt's Ambassador to Germany Badr Abdel Aati and other top officials were also present at the meeting.

Assar is leading a ministerial delegation to Germany to stand on the up-to-date technology in the field of waste recycling.

Assar said the visit comes as part of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's directives to develop an all-out waste management mechanism similar to the one adopted in Germany.

The visit aims at finding a radical solution to the waste problem in Egypt and making waste-based fossil fuel.

Local Development Minister Mahmoud Ashrawi talked about challenges facing the waste mechanism in Egypt, including poor infrastructure and insufficient number of waste recycling plants.

He expressed hope of benefiting from the German expertise in this domain.

Environment Minister Yassmin Fouad said the current solid waste management system will help set up partnership with Germany to guarantee the best management of waste.

The German minister said overpopulation aggravates the waste problem and pollution rates.

Landfills should be managed in a professional way to avoid the mistakes Germany faced in the past, he added.

He said collecting garbage is a public service in Germany that is carried out by the government and private sector companies as part of partnership contracts.

German citizens pay for this service, he added.

Talks covered the possibility that some representatives of German waste management companies would accompany the German energy minister during his expected visit to Egypt in February.