Egypt, WB to Develop Water Cooperation

Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Aty held a meeting on Wednesday with the water and drainage experts at the World Bank Group (WB) Safwat Abdel-Dayem, Wilfried Hendermark, Rajesh, and Balsubramanian to discuss ways of enhancing cooperation in the field of water resources management.

During their meeting, they discussed the best ways to work in partnership to ensure that water projects in Egypt are up and running.

They also underlined the importance of financing to speed up the rates of implementation of the strategic plan to rationalize water consumption.

Abdel Aty presented the activities of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in the field of water diplomacy and development cooperation over the last two years.

Egypt's Minister of Water revealed that his country is one of the most affected countries by water scarcity, and on this basis, the Egyptian state is exerting great efforts to meet the water issues it is facing by implementing a comprehensive development and modernization process for the water system through projects to rehabilitate canals and waterways, replacing and rehabilitating water facilities, according to the Ministry of Water Resources statement.

"We focus on expanding the implementation of water recycling and water desalination projects."

The members of WP and the Egyptian official reviewed a number of crucial topics, including transitioning to modern irrigation systems, and the effects of this transition on farmers by reducing the use of fertilizers, energy, and employment; increasing and improving crop productivity.

Abdel Aty affirmed the need for rationalizing the use of water, which contributes to reducing the fragility of the water system and increasing its flexibility.

Meanwhile, the members of the WB mission hailed the water management system and the water recycling projects in Egypt that have been implemented so far.

It's worth mentioning that the irrigation ministry is currently expanding the use of solar energy in irrigation projects and raising groundwater wells in order to reduce dependence on traditional fuel sources and reduce emissions within the framework of measures to mitigate climate changes by converting more than 1m for modern irrigation.