Mohieldin: Qalyubia Participation in National Initiative for Green Smart Projects is Effective

Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, UN Climate Change High Level Champion for Egypt and UN Special Envoy on Financing 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, met with Major General Abdel Hamid Al-Haggan, Governor of Qalyubia, In the governorate headquarters in Benha, where they discussed the governorate efforts regarding the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects.

Mohieldin appreciated the big efforts and the effective participation of the Qalyubia governorate and its domestic actors in the initiative through registering big numbers of projects that are expected to increase in the coming period thanks to the participation of all centers and cities of the governorate.

For his part, Major General Al-Haggan expressed his great interest in the initiative and follow-up of its implementation through the governorate bodies in cooperation with the private sector, Benha University, and other educational and research institutions that the governorate is rich in.

The first edition of the National Initiative for Smart Green Projects was launched last year under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, in preparation for Egypt's hosting and its presidency of COP27 held in Sharm el-Sheikh last November.

According to the Prime Minister's decision in this regard, the implementation of the initiative is supervised by a coordination committee in which the ministries of Planning and Economic Development, Local Development, Environment, Communications, and Information Technology cooperate. About 6,200 projects from all governorates participated in the first edition of the initiative according to six categories, including large, medium and small-sized enterprises, women’s and startups projects, as well as community service projects and initiatives of non-profit institutions.

The winning 18 projects (3 for each of the 6 categories) participated in the Sharm el-Sheikh conference, where they received significant moral and material support.

The second edition of the initiative was launched lately for this year with greater participation of the private sector, civil society and some concerned international organizations, and the committees announced at the level of each governorate and supervised by the governors are scheduled to announce the winning projects in the governorate, before the winning projects are liquidated at the central level according to the announced standards.

The initiative aims to increase competitiveness among development projects with environmentally friendly and technological components, and to localize and increase investment in all cities and governorates, especially after financing institutions and local banks expressed their readiness to take over the implementation of the initiative's projects.