Egypt's President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has followed up on the progress of the national agricultural production and land reclamation project in New Delta, as part of the state's strategy to increase the area of agricultural land. This came during a meeting on Monday with Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation Elsayed Elkosayer, and Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam. During the meeting, the president was briefed on the efforts to develop the necessary infrastructure and provide machinery and equipment for modern irrigation methods, water plants and agricultural mechanization. According to a statement from the presidency spokesperson, Ahmed Fahmy, Al-Sisi directed continued intensive coordination among the relevant entities and sectors to complete the components of the project. He also ordered the continued relying on modern irrigation systems within the framework of state policy to rationalise water consumption and improve water management efficiency, in pursuit of the sought strategic objective by adding new areas of agricultural land to Egypt. According to the presidency, "this shall contribute to safeguarding and developing agricultural economic resources, achieving food security and reducing the import gap. Also the establishment of new urban, agricultural and industrial communities shall accommodate population growth, offer more job opportunities and increase citizen's income." The meeting was also attended by the Head of the Armed Forces Financial Affairs Authority Lieutenant General Ahmed Al-Shazly, President's Adviser for Urban Planning Major General Amir Sayed Ahmed, and Director General of the National Service Projects Organization (NSPO) Major General Walid Abul-Magd. Moreover, the Head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Ahmed al-Azazi, the Chairperson of Watania for Agriculture and Desert Land Reclamation Tawfiq Samy and Chairperson of Watania contracting company Karam Salem participated also in the meeting.
