Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, has said the government will launch soon different development projects in partnership with the private sector, which would stimulate economic growth, create job opportunities, and improve the standard of living of citizens and the services provided to them. After the issuance of the new amendments to the law regulating the participation of the private sector in infrastructure projects, services, and public utilities, Maait said that the state is aware of the importance of having a real partnership with the private sector, and this was evident in the presidential incentive directives to encourage the private sector to expand its participation in the comprehensive and sustainable development process. He pointed out that the new amendments to the law on partnership with the private sector allowed the expansion of partnership patterns with the private sector in infrastructure projects, utilities and public services, and introduced new methods of contracting such as tendering and limited bidding, direct contracting, and contracting a project submitted on the initiative of the private sector. He explained that specific controls and criteria have been approved for selecting projects that can be implemented in the partnership system with the private sector, through a model of data and basic requirements for that, set by the central unit for partnership with the private sector at the Ministry of Finance, which has been transformed into an integrated sector in the new administrative structure. He referred to the development of a mechanism for selecting projects that can be implemented in the partnership system with the private sector, through the formation of a joint committee of specialists from the ministries of finance and planning and other concerned parties, to study the projects submitted within its proposed annual plan to the Ministry of Planning to choose those that can be implemented in the partnership system with the private sector. Maait confirmed that the new amendments to this law also included prior control over the selection of projects that can be implemented in the partnership system with the private sector, and to ensure their readiness for contracting, which contributes to strengthening governance, giving investors an investment map of projects that can be contracted under the partnership system with the private sector, and reducing The duration of the offering and contracting, and the time for submitting and considering the grievances to expedite the completion of the procedures. For his part, Head of the Central Unit for Partnership with the Private Sector at the Ministry of Finance, Ater Hanoura, indicated that the transformation of the central unit for partnership with the private sector P.P.P has turned into an integrated sector in the new structure of the Ministry of Finance to develop partnership with the private sector, by supporting all administrative bodies in structuring and launching projects that are implemented in the partnership system with the private sector. He explained that a list of projects that will be studied and proposed successively in the partnership system with the private sector has been drawn up, and they include projects in transport, housing, electricity, health and education, local development, solid waste recycling, and strategic warehouses of the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade. He explained that it is aimed to develop partnership with the private sector, by supporting all administrative authorities in structuring and putting forward projects that are implemented in the partnership system with the private sector, and proceeding with the implementation of the project to establish and operate 1,000 distinguished language schools, in the system of partnership with the private sector by 2030 in addition to other projects such as sea and dry ports, 8 projects for recycling waste and converting it into electrical energy, at a value of EGP 10bn and the establishment of 4 strategic warehouses for the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, at about EGP 3.2bn, and a dry port in the 10th of Ramadan with a value of EGP 3bn in addition to projects under study that include the establishment of 4 desalination plants, a sewage plant, a Benha University Hospital in El Obour, and sports and youth facilities.
