Egypt Launches Development Projects to Overcome Ukrainian War Impact

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Egypt Launches Development Projects to Overcome Ukrainian War Impact

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Egyptian government seeks to overcome the impacts of the Russian-Ukrainian war, that led to a surge in inflation rates globally, through various development projects.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated on Monday the integrated animal, dairy production complex and mechanized slaughterhouses in Sadat City in Menoufia Governorate.

He affirmed in his opening remarks that Cairo is exerting great efforts to control the prices.

The complex can house up to 5,000 dairy cattle with a production capacity of 1.5 tons of beef cattle.

It also includes a scientific center with a veterinary hospital and six sub-farms in addition to two incinerators for safe disposal of biological waste.

It aims at developing livestock resources to achieve the citizens’ needs and provide job opportunities.

The measures taken by the Egyptian government over the past years have contributed to “raising” the growth rates of livestock production, Sisi explained.

He underscored the importance of increasing production rates in various fields to achieve self-sufficiency and export the surplus while benefiting from the agricultural lands to control production costs in light of population growth and surge in global prices.

Sisi further pointed out that prices in Egypt should have been much higher than their current rates.

However, he said the state is keen on maintaining stable fuel and energy prices, noting that it has postponed a scheduled increase in electricity prices several times to alleviate the burden on citizens.

He called on the private sector to take part in the field of livestock production, given its better work mechanisms and capacities.

The Egyptian President said that inflation rates have risen dramatically in European and Western countries as a result of the Russian-Ukrainian war, noting their huge potential and stable population rate.

According to recent data by the country’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), Egypt’s annual urban consumer inflation accelerated to a slower-than-expected 13.5% year-on-year in May, the highest since March 2019.

This rate comes in light of rising commodity and fuel prices around the world.

Among the world's biggest wheat importers, Egypt is heavily reliant on shipments from Ukraine and Russia, and its government has been seeking alternative supplies from countries including India and France.



US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
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US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)

US and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said on Thursday.
As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people, Palestinian medics said.
Qatar, the US and Egypt are making a major push to reach a deal to halt fighting in the 15-month conflict and free remaining hostages held by the Hamas group before President Joe Biden leaves office.
President-elect Donald Trump has warned there will be "hell to pay", if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
On Thursday, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and said this was the most serious attempt so far to reach an accord.
"There are extensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes to narrowing old existing gaps but there is no deal yet," he told Reuters, without giving further details.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar-Tal said Israel was fully committed to reaching an agreement to return its hostages from Gaza but faces obstruction from Hamas.
The two sides have been at an impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
SEVERE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
On Thursday, the death toll from Israel's military strikes included eight Palestinians killed in a house in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, where Israeli forces have operated for more than three months. Nine others, including a father and his three children, died in two separate airstrikes on two houses in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.
There was no Israeli military comment on the two incidents.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory's 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.
Israel denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza and says it has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of truckloads of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to warehouses and shelters over the past week.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the body of Israeli Bedouin hostage Youssef Al-Ziyadna, along with evidence that was still being examined suggesting his son Hamza, taken on the same day, may also be dead.
"We will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.