World Bank Commends "Local Development" Program in Upper Egypt

A report issued by the World Bank directed to the Egyptian government and a number of ministers concerned with the Upper Egypt Local Development Program (UELDP) in the governorates of Qena and Sohag revealed that the program will continue to achieve strong results and take broad steps in the implementation process despite the difficult challenges imposed by the corona pandemic in recent months.

The report indicated that the recent period witnessed an improvement in the business environment in the two governorates and a development in the institutional capacities within the local administrations of Qena and Sohag.

The World Bank pointed out that loan disbursements amounted to about 71%, a year and a half after the actual start of the program.

"What has been disbursed so far has reached about $ 375 million of the value of the World Bank’s $ 500 million loan," the report added.

"It is necessary to highlight the lessons learned from the annual performance evaluation of the two governorates, which was carried out by the bank’s mission in July, including the preparation of a guide explaining the steps for implementing the investment planning process that the program succeeded in reaching, in addition to the progress made in the contracting process related to modernization of industrial zones," the report indicated.

The WB called for expediting the achievement of the program’s objectives with regard to industrial zones, as well as ensuring implementation on the agreed dates for each of the clusters’ action plans as approved through dialogue between the public and private sectors, and in the field of government services provided to businesses.

The bank's mission commended the efforts of the program coordinating office at the Ministry of Local Development and the governorates of Qena and Sohag in responding to the emergency needs imposed by the coronavirus pandemic and coordinating the local response in cooperation with the relevant ministries.

The report also referred that the WB supported the implementation of action plans developed at the level of the two governorates to confront the effects of the pandemic, including urgent health needs and provision of services.

With regard to the geographical extension of the local development program in Upper Egypt to the governorates of Minya and Assiut, the World Bank confirmed that it is working closely with the program coordination office and officials of the two governorates to determine the scope of the planned extension and the continued progress of implementation and the targeted results.

It is noteworthy that the local development program in Upper Egypt is being implemented in the governorates of Qena and Sohag, which is financed by a loan from the World Bank amounting to $ 500 million and a contribution from the Egyptian government of $ 457 million.

The program comes in implementation of the directives of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi regarding support for comprehensive development in Upper Egypt governorates, pushing them to become more attractive to investment and enhance their competitive advantage, as well as attempts to improve the level of services provided to citizens in various sectors.