An agreement to provide a €500,000 partnership grant (FEXTE) for the technical aid of the Ministry of Transport, was signed on Wednesday between Sahar Nasr, minister of investment and international cooperation, Stéphanie Lanfranchi, director of the French Development Agency (AFD) office in Cairo, and Jean Jacques Helluin, executive director of the Cooperation for Urban Mobility in the Developing World (CODATU). Nasr explained that the agreement aims to improve the system for issuing tickets, provide assistance to support the use of tram and metro stations, improve railways in Cairo and Alexandria, and support the operation and maintenance management to reduce operational costs. The agreement was made on the sidelines of the second Urban Transport Forum, which took place in the framework of a French-Egyptian cooperation week, dubbed "Toward Sustainable Cities". Moreover, there will be a plan to improve the design of Cairo metro and Alexandria tram stations, auditing the design of two transfer stations on the third line of the metro, along with the design and implementation of a training program to raise the efficiency of workers in the Cairo metro. Nasr indicated that linking Egyptian cities will contribute to the promotion of investment in Egypt and reduce transport time, pointing out that transportation is a priority during negotiations with international financing institutions. She added that there is a new bill being discussed by the cabinet, in order to organise services for passenger transport companies in private cars, using information technology, which will provide a legislative framework to facilitate the work of companies in this sector. The AFD provides support to Egypt in several areas, such as the establishment of three metro lines, its facilities, the establishment of the new Kasr Aini hospital, establishing an information system for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, and the expansion of drinking water and sanitation projects.
