President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Saturday outlined the presidential decrees he took following the end of the second National Youth Conference held in Aswan under the auspices of the state. According to a statement issued by the Egyptian presidency, Al-Sisi issued nine presidential decrees during the closing speech of the ceremony. The first decree focused on the establishment of an authority to develop Upper Egypt and create job opportunities with investments of up to EGP 5bn over the next five years. The second decree called on the completion of development projects carried out in the area of Nasr El-Nubia and allocating EGP 320m to complete these projects before the end of June 2018. The third decree called for the creation of a national project to establish industrial areas for small industries. The fourth decree focused on broadening social protection through the continued development of the takaful and karama programme. The fifth decree indicated that the government will work to increase exerted efforts aimed at improving the quality of life in Upper Egypt mainly through education, health, transportation, and housing. Al-Sisi's sixth decree called for the rapid completion of the Golden Triangle project in Qena, Safaga, and El-Qoseir over five stages. The project seeks to establish regions for mineral industries and international touristic regions to turn the area into an attractive area for tourism. The seventh decree stipulated the transformation of Aswan into a capital for African economy and culture on the occasion of celebrating the 200th anniversary of the discovery of the Abu Simbel temple. The eighth decree focused on the exclusion of the 12,000-acre governmental project in Khour Qendi due to protests from the Nubian residents in the area. The final decree centred on reviewing potential compensation for people who were not adequately compensated for their displacement following the construction of the Aswan High Dam. Review measures will be undertaken through the establishment of a national committee assigned to finish its assessment within six months.
