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.



Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
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Pope Calls Situation in Gaza 'Shameful'

Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed
Palestinians carry the dead body of a child, at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, January 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed

Pope Francis on Thursday stepped up his recent criticisms of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave "very serious and shameful.”

In a yearly address to diplomats delivered on his behalf by an aide, Francis appeared to reference deaths caused by winter cold in Gaza, where there is almost no electricity.

"We cannot in any way accept the bombing of civilians," the text said, according to Reuters.
"We cannot accept that children are freezing to death because hospitals have been destroyed or a country's energy network has been hit."

The pope, 88, was present for the address but asked an aide to read it for him as he is recovering from a cold.

The comments were part of an address to Vatican-accredited envoys from some 184 countries that is sometimes called the pope's 'state of the world' speech. The Israeli ambassador to the Holy See was among those present for the event.

Francis, leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts.
But he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas, and has suggested
the global community should study whether the offensive constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
An Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff in December for that suggestion.

The pope's text said he condemns anti-Semitism, and called the growth of anti-Semitic groups "a source of deep concern."
Francis also called for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, which has killed tens of thousands.