This Medium-Term Sustainable Development Plan is considered the first cycle of the four-year Plan aimed at achieving Egypt's Vision 2030. The Plan is a nationwide multisectoral document that, adopting the principle of community participation, aims at studying development priorities and formulating policies and programs that achieve the national objectives, which are represented in (i) rapid economic growth; (ii) full and decent employment; (iii) social justice; and (iv) equal opportunities, in a way that guarantees inclusiveness of growth and improves the quality of life for all citizens, and provides real social protection for all classes with limited income. It consists of the following three Pillars: (1) Economic development; (2) Social development; (3) Urban development and environmental improvement. Within this context, the Plan aims to achieve a high and increasing economic growth rate of the gross domestic product, which requires an increase in the investment rate. The development plan prioritizes the promising pioneering sectors that constitute growth engines, which are highly productive and fast-growing, foremost of which is the manufacturing industry together with agriculture and irrigation, electricity and renewable energy, petroleum and mineral wealth, transportation, Suez Canal activity, communications and information technology, and tourism. To promote economic development, the main interventions are directed to (i) expand the capacity of economic activities to absorb the successive increases in labor force supply and to accommodate the increasing number of unemployed persons; (ii) develop the labor market capacity to provide job opportunities, thus reducing unemployment rates; (iii) raise the savings rate; (iv) increase the investment rate, including the foreign direct investments; (iv) develop non-oil exports; (v) enhance the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy and accelerate its transition to a knowledge-based economy. As for the social development pillar, the objectives are (i) to reduce the population growth rate; (ii) to reduce the illiteracy rate; (iii) to achieve price stability to reduce the inflation rate; (iv) to reduce the proportion of the population below the poverty line; (v) to reduce economic and social disparities across Egyptian regions; and (vi) increase female and youth participation in the labor force to narrow the gender and age gap in unemployment rates. In the context of urban development and environmental improvement, the Plan seeks to (i) increase the urbanized areas; (ii) allocate at least a third of public investments in urban development to governorates; (iii) rationalize energy use and pursue environmental development efforts to address pollution and reduce carbon dioxide emissions; (iv) introduce several new crops with industrial advantages; (v) reuse resources promoting the sustainability; (vi) enhance food security at different levels; and (vii) establish the nuclear plant and its installations. In particular, in the agriculture sector, the Plan proposes the following (i) a steady increase in investments directed to the agricultural and irrigation sector; (ii) raising production efficiency by rationalizing the use of inputs and improving productivity to maximize added value; (iii) adopting a package of policies and procedures that favor farmers to increase production according to the priorities that are in line with their interests; (iv) improving the efficiency of the service sectors of agricultural activity, such as the transportation and storage sector, which contributes to reducing agricultural losses and accelerating access to markets, as well as organizing the internal trade sector in a way that guarantees an appropriate return for farmers and reduces the power of middlemen to impose unfair prices. In particular, in the energy sector, the Plan proposes the following (i) diversifying sources of electric energy production and securing its supply; (ii) the optimal utilization of the available human, financial and technological resources; (iii) expanding the use of energy and renewable sources; (iv) increasing the reliance on local resources; (v) improving the efficiency of production, transmission, and distribution of electric power; (vi) cooperating with neighboring Arab and African countries in the field of connecting networks so that Egypt becomes a hub for electric energy. In the petroleum and mineral wealth sector, the aim is (i) intensify research and exploration activities and increase production; (ii) develop the infrastructure for the production, transportation, and circulation of petroleum products; (iii) develop the petrochemical industry; (iv) transform Egypt into a regional center for energy trade and circulation.
مصر · 2018-05-01