The Local Administration Committee at the Egyptian Parliament has endorsed Wednesday the World Bank's $500 million financing agreement to support Upper Egypt Development Programme. Egypt signed earlier in October the $500 million financing agreement with the World Bank to support the Upper Egypt Local Development Programme, on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF annual meetings in Washington, DC. Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and World Bank vice president Hafez Ghanem signed the financing agreement. The Upper Egypt Local Development Programme will focus on Qena and Sohag governorates and on delivering services to lagging regions, providing youth and women with job opportunities, and improving infrastructure. Qena and Sohag are two of the poorest governorates in Egypt. The endorsement of the World Bank agreement took place during Minister Nasr's participation in meeting by Local Administration Committee at the parliament on Wednesday, in the presence of the committee's head Ahmed Al-Sigini.
