Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inspected on Friday a mega project aimed at major expansion of agricultural production through the reclamation of 500,000 feddans along the Dabaa Axis Highway in the country's north west. According to an official statement, Presidency Spokesman Bassam Rady said the new project, dubbed Mostaqbal Misr, comes as part of the state's strategy to maximize productive opportunities in the areas of land reclamation and agricultural production. The project is a new addition to the series of mega developmental projects under-execution by the state in all fields and across the country, Rady explained. Mostaqbal Misr aims to provide high quality crops with affordable prices to the public, fill the gap in the local market between imports and exports in order to save foreign currency for the national economy. The president was briefed on the development in the project by officials on the ground. El-Sisi ordered bolstering coordination and cooperation between concerned bodies to complete the project, which would be an added value to the country's arsenal of national projects in the field of agriculture and food. Mostaqbal Misr will also provide thousands of direct job opportunities, hundreds of thousands of indirect job opportunities, as well as investment opportunities for leading agricultural firms in the private sector. The project is located along the extension of the Dabaa Axis Highway, which is one of the new major roads executed as part of the under-expansion national network of roads, Rady said. He added that the area of the project enjoys several geographical advantages including easy access to several export ports, airports, and industrial zones. The infrastructure of the project will see a fully integrated system for irrigation and farming, which will be equipped with high tech equipment for various agricultural operations. These high tech equiment include a central "Pivot" watering system, two power plants with a capacity of 250 megawatts, an internal power grid spanning 200 kms, as well as a main and sub roads extending 500 kms. After the inspection tour, El-Sisi met with several heads of specialized agricultural firms participating in the project in the attendance of the Commander of the Air Forces Lieutenant General Mohamed Abbas.
