President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi ordered on Saturday the outlining of a a comprehensive vision for developing the mining industry in the country. The vision should explore the key resources areas nationwide, which would boost the mining contribution to the domestic product, and enhance the country's move towards bringing about the comprehensive development, presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said in a statement following El-Sisi's meeting with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla. The meeting reviewed efforts exerted by the Petroleum Ministry to develop its sectors, especially the mining, petrochemicals, and natural gas. El-Molla expounded the ministry's plans to develop the natural gas systems for the local consumption and the gradual transform in using natural gas in means of transportation instead of other hydrocarbons. In this regard, El-Sisi urged expanding the efforts of using natural gas in households nationwide. The meeting comes nearly two weeks after Egypt has discovered a gold deposit in its eastern desert containing over 1 million ounces of gold and a high extraction potential of 95 percent. The discovery comes amid a plan by the petroleum ministry to boost the sector to raise its contribution to domestic product, the petroleum ministry said, adding that a second phase of the plan will be implemented after the conclusion of the first phase, which is running from 2018 till the end of 2021. Egypt is looking to attract foreign direct investments of $375 million to the sector in the next two years, increasing the forecast for direct investments from $700 million to $1 billion by 2030.
