EFG-Hermes has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Kuwaiti initiative affiliated with the Kuwaiti Red Crescent, to fund the development of Makhzen village in Qena Province. The project will contribute to a solution for infrastructure issues, poverty, education, food security, unemployment, and sanitation issues. Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali thanked Kuwait for its continued support of Egypt during the signing ceremony on Thursday morning at the Four Seasons Hotel. She emphasised the importance of this project, which forms a model for partnership and development partnership between the public and private sectors. Wali stressed her keenness to support this and all Arab social development projects, which have been undertaken by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE in recent years. EFG-Hermes Chairperson Mona Zulfikar said her company seeks, through scientific and field studies, to develop the neediest areas in Egypt by combating poverty, developing health care, education, housing, water, and sanitation. The company also seeks to develop and fund small projects that work to create jobs and income for young people in Egypt. For her part, Kuwaiti Initiative to Support the Egyptian People Chairman Adela Al-Sayer said that historic relations between Egypt and Kuwait have touched on numerous issues in the political, social, economic and cultural fields. She added that they initiative members are collecting donations from the Kuwaiti people amounting to KWD 276,000 (EGP7m) to cover project costs. The Makhzen village project will include the reconstruction and restoration of 362 houses, and construction of a new school on an area of 400 square meters with a height of four floors. Existing schools will also be provided with school furniture and scientific equipment and laboratories, while maintenance and repair works will be undertaken and a new automated bakery constructed. This project is the embodiment of the EFG-Hermes vision of developing villages and rural areas to reduce poverty through sustainable development, working to rehabilitate the entire community. Before this project, EFG-Hermes completed another project for rebuilding and developing the Sheikh Yaqoub manor in Beni Suef. EFG-Hermes also oversaw the reconstruction and development of 450 houses, and the construction of a sewage treatment plant, and a service centre that includes a clinic, nursery, bakery, training hall, and a dairy plant at a cost of EGP 27m. It was inaugurated in 2010 after the initiative launched by EFG-Hermes with a cost of EGP 50m for the development of villages in areas that are most in need in Upper Egypt. It will be distributed started from 2015 according to the implementation programme to serve more than 30,000 Egyptian citizens.
