Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has stressed the importance of continuing to foster an investment-friendly environment to attract both foreign and domestic capital, in support of local oil and gas production. This, he said, is vital to meet development needs, reduce the import bill, and ease the burden on citizens. During a meeting on Tuesday with Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi, President Sisi emphasised the need to develop new discoveries, accelerate their integration into production, expand exploration programmes, and offer additional incentives to ensure further growth in the petroleum and mineral resources sectors. The meeting reviewed state efforts to secure citizens' needs for petroleum products and supply various sectors — especially electricity — with natural gas. It also addressed the status of exploration activities, added reserves, and government measures to reduce arrears to foreign partners, including a commitment to settle monthly dues and encourage faster production and exploration. The meeting also highlighted efforts to continue developing gas infrastructure, particularly through the use of floating regasification units, which have boosted regasification capacity from 1,000 to 2,250 million cubic feet per day. This expansion aims to ensure flexibility and continuity of gas supplies across all sectors and guard against sudden disruptions in the supply mix. Talks also touched on cooperation with Cyprus to diversify gas supply sources and advance Egypt's strategy to serve as a regional energy hub. The meeting further reviewed efforts to revitalise the mining sector by transforming the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority into an active economic entity, signing agreements with global companies for mineral exploitation, developing value-added mining industries, and encouraging national capital to invest in mineral extraction and processing. Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English Subediting: M. S. Salama
