The Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities and the Ministry of Planning signed a Protocol of Agreement Monday to implement a project developing citizen and investor services. The Ministry of Planning is due to adopt the project in the new cities and services of the latter. The period of the agreement is for two years from the signing date, with the potential for renewal or amendment, Minister of Housing Mostafa Madbouly said in a statement. Madbouly added that the project's implementation will occur through an IT-based programme to develop the ministry's services. The minister added that the services for citizens and investors will be automated after one year. The Ministry of Planning, headed by Ashraf El-Araby, launched in July a national project to raise the efficiency and performance of the state administrative apparatus. The upgrade is being implemented in cooperation with all ministries, governorates and localities. El-Araby announced in July the government will focus on adopting administrative reform strategies and raising the efficiency of the social safety net to encourage the economic growth rate to 3.2% in fiscal year (FY) 2014/2015. He added that the government is developing an administrative reform roadmap to improve the efficiency of all governmental institutions, services and employees. In September, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb announced the government has identified a list of services needing improvement, adding that he has assigned priorities for a number of service projects. In April, Madbouly and Minister of Communication and Information Technology Atef Helmy announced their respective ministries' plan to cooperate in establishing smart villages in new cities. The project aims to develop the technology sector, and will include technology incubators, training centres, technological product outlets, government service centres and other commercial activities. In a similar move, Madbouly has signed an agreement with Minister of Supply Khaled Hanafy, to establish markets, trade complexes, logistics areas and factory outlets in new cities. The agreement will commence with the development of new cities in Upper Egypt, offering their residents various commodities at reduced prices. Madbouly stressed at that time that his ministry is ready to provide the land needed for establishing the projects, adding he is currently studying establishing bakeries in the new cities to produce subsidised bread.
