Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Follow-up and Administrative Reform Hala al-Saeed announced Monday the objectives of the general framework for the 2018-2022 medium-term sustainable development plan in the fields of social and urban development and environmental improvement.
The plan aims at reducing population growth from 2.65 in 2017 to 2.1 percent by the end of the four-year plan, she explained during a press conference.
The government also seeks to reduce the inflation rate from 14.3 percent in February 2018 to 8.5 percent by the end of the plan. It also aimed to reduce illiteracy from the current 26 percent to 20 percent by 2022.
In addition, the plan also targets decreasing the number of people below the poverty line to 22 percent in 2022, compared to 27.8 percent in 2015.
“The government targets reducing the economic and social disparities among different regions in Egypt, so that the gap in poverty rates does not exceed 20 percent among the governorates,” Saeed explained.
She added that the plan targets increasing the participation of women and youth in the labor force to narrow the gender and age gap in unemployment rates. This stems from a keenness to achieve the social justice needed to implement comprehensive and sustainable development in the constant pursuit of the objectives of Egypt’s vision 2030.
In the field of urban development and environmental improvement, Saeed said that the four-year plan seeks to increase the space of urban areas from seven percent to 10 percent.
It also targets allocating more than 60 percent of public investments for the development of the governorates in Upper Egypt and the borders within the framework of the region's development programs.
The minister said that the overall scheme aims at expanding the construction of cities and new urban communities to accommodate about 10 million people. This will be accompanied with the rationalization of energy and ongoing efforts in environmental development, treatment of pollutants and reduction of carbon emissions to reach global levels.
In addition, the plan will aim to expand the use of clean technology in waste recycling projects throughout Egypt.