Egypt, Italy sign LE 70.5M agreement to manage solid waste

CAIRO - 6 September 2019: Egypt and Italy signed an agreement to finance the third phase of the solid waste management project in Minya Governorate, at a value of LE 70.5 million.

The agreement was signed in the presence of the Ministers of Investment and Local Development, the Governor of Minya, the Italian Ambassador in Cairo, and the Director of the United Nations Development Program in Egypt.

Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said that the agreement comes within the Egyptian-Italian debt swap for development program, which is to use these debts in development projects instead of paying them to the Italian side.
The total value of the program is € 300 million, Nasr clarified.

The Minister affirmed that Egypt is committed to development framework agreements with international financing partners and always offers successful experiences and models to achieve the sustainable development goals, from environmental protection and employment to youth.

For her part, Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad said that the third phase of the project of solid waste management in Minya comes as a complement to what has been achieved in the previous two phases in the province.

The third phase depends on providing technology and technical support to the solid waste system in Minya and increasing its capacity through a comprehensive plan to develop and support the system prepared by the waste management organization, according to Fouad.

Fouad pointed out that the new system includes various stages, most notably the preparation of infrastructure and intermediate stations and the collection mechanism and the establishment of recycling plants to take advantage of these waste and then provide sanitary landfills for the burial of waste that can not be recycled safely preserves the environment.

She announced that the slogan that will be launched to implement that system is " collect more .. recycle more .. bury less".

For his part, the Italian Ambassador to Cairo Giampaolo Cantini said that the Debt for Development program focuses on achieving sustainable development and stimulating economic growth in Egypt, which is one of the most important development programs implemented by the Italian government.

Cantini elaborated that current agreement is a continuation of the first and second phases, which have successfully processed 300 tons per day, and the treatment plant to be financed through an agreement.

He explained that the agreement raises the processing capacity to 500 tons per day, in addition to raising community awareness of environmental protection, which provides a practical solution to improve the environmental conditions in Egypt, in line with Egypt's development plans and the ambitious economic and social reform program of the Egyptian government.