CAIRO: Farouk el-Baz's Foundation for Reconstruction and Development demanded a raise in the allocations of scientific research in the state budget for the current year 2011 to one percent of GDP. UNESCO reported that the rate of spending on research and development in gross domestic product (GDP) gives an indication of the ability of each country to invest material and human resources in scientific and technological activities. According to the report the highest rate of expenditure on scientific research is 4.7 percent in Israel, followed by Sweden 4 percent, and North America 2.7 percent, Europe 1.7 percent, then Asia 1.5 percent, Korea 1.9 percent and Singapore 1.5 percent, which is being chased by Malaysia. As in the Arab countries in the continents of Africa and Asia, it did not exceed 0.3 percent except in the State of Qatar, which has allocated 2.8 percent of GDP for scientific research by a decision of the Amir. Yet, South Africa remains the largest African country spending on scientific research at a rate of 0.7 percent of GDP. It is worth referring to the New Partnership for Africa's Development's (NEPAD) decision to invest one percent of the total GDP in scientific research as if this happened it would be a scientific revolution in the region, according to el-Baz's Foundation for Reconstruction and Development website. Therefore the Foundation requests a one percent rise of GDP in funds for scientific research, so that universities and research centers could produce scientific research that can be applied to address the growing problems in society and to develop the domestic product so that it can be able to compete globally. In response to a question about the status of the Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, el-Baz referred to the weakness of its possibilities and lack of expertise that allow Egypt to experience nuclear energy, reported the foundation's website. Moreover, he called on the allocation of as much as possible from the State budget for education as Egypt will not fit without paying attention to education. “Egypt needs intellectual production at the present stage” he said. El-Baz, director of the Center for Space Research at the University of Boston, explained that the generation of electricity using nuclear power produces radioactive materials that major countries of the world failed to get rid of them to the extent that there is thinking to send these materials to the sun which is a factory for nuclear energy. The world famous Egyptian said “the current stage requires the development of solar energy technology and its use till scientific research could be strengthened and developed to a degree that allows us to deal safely with nuclear power.” El-Baz pointed out that the Western Sahara can be exploited to generate solar energy and that the Red Sea area is suitable for the utilization of wind energy. El-Baz's visit to Egypt which lasted for six days resulted in a timetable for the implementation of his project “development corridor” starting after 6 months. “The project will be displayed during the coming period so that a number of companies specialized in this field would calculate its actual cost and compare it with the feasibility study conducted by the Center for Economic Studies which estimated the cost of the project by $ 24 billion,” he said. He pointed out that this process takes approximately 6 months after that the start will be actually in implementation at the two phases of work which takes about ten years, stressing that the project will be limited to Egyptian companies and labor only. El-Baz said that the government is currently considering the collection of initial funding and researching methods that allow public participation in the financing by offering shares and bonds in low values for all classes of people; adding that the Cabinet is currently considering how to offer the shares and to identify the competent authority that will issue them and collect the money. The government's role in the project would be limited to enact legislation, while the management of the project will be through an independent institution with a board of administration composed of public figures known for their efficiency in addition to Arab and international personalities for a global promotion for the project. El-Baz suggested displaying a number of names publicly to choose from. The Foundation called on the Prime Minister to establish an independent Board of Trustees of experienced and competent figures to oversee the implementation of the project “development and reconstruction corridor” so that the Board of Trustees would directly be subordinated to the President or Prime Minister in order to speed up the decision making process and avoid bureaucracy. The project is a developmental project, not an agricultural one, which has multiple benefits including that the project will not affect the waters of the Nile because it will not generate any canals or dams but all the requirements of the project is to pipe water from Lake Nasser for drinking purposes along with industrial ones only near the project in populated areas in the Delta and Upper Egypt regions. The horizontal axes lengths ranges between 10-80 km from locality areas, which encourages citizens to relocate to new areas near their home in contrast to other projects such as Toshka, Sinai and others. It is noted that there will not be any crops on the hill of the Western desert as it is from limestone and there is no underground water there, but agriculture will only take place in the level adjacent to the Nile Valley and the irrigation will be from renewable groundwater in these areas. The College of Agriculture, Cairo University, will host on Thursday April 28 a seminar titled “Development and Reconstruction Corridor; between dream and reality”; speaks at the seminar Said Kamel, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation discussing investment opportunities provided by the project for young people and investors and the role of youth in supporting the project in the next phase. It is worth mentioning that a cooperation protocol between the Faculty of Agriculture and el-Baz Foundation for Reconstruction and Development is being signed to study the nature of the areas suitable for cultivation in the project. BM
