In implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to develop and clean up Egyptian lakes, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, and Dr. Bahaa El-Ghannam, Executive Director of the Future of Egypt Authority for Sustainable Development, witnessed the signing ceremony of a joint cooperation protocol, in the presence of Lieutenant General Ashraf Atwa, Vice Chairman of the Authority, at the Suez Canal Yacht Marina in Ismailia.
According to the protocol, the Suez Canal Authority undertakes the cleaning and dredging work in the targeted lakes, according to the scopes of work, depths and coordinates determined by the Future of Egypt Authority.
At the beginning of the meeting, Lieutenant General Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, affirmed the Authority’s keenness to expand its developmental contributions and support national projects with economic and environmental impact through active participation in national projects in cooperation with state institutions, which will advance comprehensive development efforts in various sectors, praising the successive successes achieved by the Future of Egypt Authority in a short period to support the pillars of sustainable development.
Lieutenant General Rabie explained that the Suez Canal Authority is a key partner in lake development and dredging projects, based on its accumulated engineering and technical expertise and specialized human resources in dredging work, as well as its affiliated companies operating in this field.
The head of the authority pointed to the successes achieved by the Suez Canal during the past years in dredging and cleaning the Bardawil, Manzala, Edko and Mariout lakes, within the framework of the political leadership’s directives to restore the environmental balance of the lakes and maximize the economic and environmental benefit from them, in a way that contributes to supporting and developing fish resources.
Lieutenant General Rabie also reviewed the Authority’s strategy to diversify income sources and not be limited to ship transit fees, through expanding economic activities and opening up to new areas of work, most notably localizing the maritime industry, creating advanced logistics services, in addition to active participation in major national projects.
For his part, Dr. Bahaa El-Ghannam, Executive Director of the Future of Egypt Authority for Sustainable Development, affirmed that the Authority is responsible for implementing the state’s strategy to develop Egyptian lakes and maximize their economic and environmental benefits, by setting development priorities and defining scopes of work in coordination with various concerned parties, in order to ensure the rehabilitation of lakes, raise the efficiency of exploiting their natural resources, and maximize their productivity, which contributes to supporting the food security system, developing fish resources, and creating productive and sustainable development communities in the surrounding areas.
Dr. Bahaa El-Ghannam welcomed the joint cooperation with the Suez Canal Authority, given its expertise and specialized capabilities that contribute to raising the efficiency of development and cleaning works in accordance with the latest environmental standards, in order to achieve the developmental and environmental goals of this ambitious national project.
He added that the agency operates according to an integrated scientific approach based on environmental and hydrological studies and the identification of developmental intervention priorities, in order to ensure sustainability and maintain the ecological balance of Egyptian lakes in the long term.
The cooperation protocol was signed by Engineer Tariq Gharib Al-Shami, Director of the Dredging Department at the Authority, and Major General Khaled Salah, Assistant Director of the Future of Egypt Authority.
On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, the two sides discussed ways to enhance cooperation in other areas of work, and agreed to form a joint working group to study future aspects of cooperation, within the framework of integration and synergy of the efforts of state institutions.
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