Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclatmation Ameen Abaza said in a press statement yesterday that plans are underway to resettle the Nubian village of Wadi Amal in Aswan Governorate. Abaza said that his ministry is developing a detailed plan, along with the Ministries of Irrigation and Water Resources, Electricity and Power, Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, and local authorities in Aswan. Procedures related to the reclamation and use of 24,000 feddans, of which 10,000 will be allocated to Nubians, have also been finished. The detailed plan for resettlement involves building homes in Nubian villages with full-fledged facilities on 450 feddans. Concerned ministries have already begun implementing a comprehensive resettlement plan by reclaiming 10,000 feddans, which should be the basis of a new urban community, Abaza said. Four days after Abaza's return from a visit to Ethiopia with a large Egyptian delegation, Al-Masry Al-Youm learned that Al-Ahly Bank of Egypt has obtained approval from the central bank to set up a representative office in Ethiopia to facilitate trade between the two countries and to finance investment projects. The bank has also decided to rent 25,000 feddans in Ethiopia to grow wheat. This should be the stepping stone to renting 500,000 feddans with a goal of achieving wheat self-sufficiency. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
