The 2021 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report on Egypt stresses that the Egyptian government is well able to overcome challenges.
This statement by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli came during a special ceremony on Tuesday for the Human Development Report (HDR) 2021 in the New Administrative Capital.
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and key government and UNDP officials attended the event.
The report reviews government development efforts, which “extend to all aspects of life in Egypt,” Madbouli said.
“The return of this report after a ten-year absence is an indication that the Egyptian government is well able to overcome many challenges,” Madbouli said.
The premier added that he was among the experts who preparing the report during the last few years.
The prime minister praised the report for its “complete impartiality and scientific method”.
“Egypt is now in an excellent position to be more open to international institutions and keener to make all data available and be transparent in all measures taken,” he added.
Madbouli said that Egypt’s economic reform programme achieved major accomplishments before the coronavirus and managed to maintain positive economic growth during the pandemic.
Egypt is aiming for 7 per cent economic growth in the next four years, Madbouli said.
“Over the past 10 years, Egypt witnessed two revolutions and faced numerous security, political and economic challenges,” Madbouli said, affirming that these developments had many negative implications for the economy.
Egypt’s economic reform programme sought to fix decades-old structural problems in the economy.
“But most importantly, the programme aimed to secure job opportunities for our youth, improve living standards and public services, achieve social justice and sustainable development within the framework of Egypt Vision 2030 and the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs),” he said.
He noted that the economic reform programme was intended to attract more regional and international investments.
Egypt was among few countries that were able to maintain positive economic growth in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.
The prime minister added that the government had launched social initiatives and protection programmes to ease the effects of economic reforms on certain segments of society.
Madbouli said Egypt’s achievements are due to the economic reform programme, which is only one stage of a longer programme.
The government embarked on the second phase of the economic reform programme to solve problems in technology-intensive manufacturing industries, agriculture and communications and information technology, the prime minister said.
Madbouli noted that the economic reform programme was based on developing human resources and improving health, education, and housing.
The government invested LE4.9 billion in 2013 in education as opposed to LE56 billion in the current fiscal year.
The prime minister highlighted that the healthcare sector has been the most to reap the fruits of investment in human development.
He pointed out to initiatives such as 100 Million Healthy Lives Campaign, hepatitis C treatment, and the presidential campaign for women’s health.
The UNDP introduced the report in 1990 to define and measure development and to rank countries based on their Human Development Index (HDI), which takes education, health and income into consideration.
According to UNDP Egypt, the country’s 2021 report highlights human development between 2011 and 2020.
In a recorded speech played during the ceremony, UNDP administrator Achim Steiner expressed the UNDP’s pride to have collaborated with Egypt in issuing the report since 1994.
The 2021 report covers a period of important changes in Egypt marked by major socio-economic transitions and challenges, Steiner said.
“It shows how the country has made huge strides in key areas such as health, education and housing,” he added.
Egypt is notable for being among the earliest adopters of the concept of human development, which is “centred on expanding the richness of human life rather than simply the richness of the economy”, he said.
Egypt managed to raise life expectancy from 70.3 years in 2010 to 72 years in 2019.
“Egypt has maintained positive economic growth due to bold economic reforms,” Steiner said.
Egypt is also responding proactively to the climate and environment crisis, he added, citing Egypt’s establishment of a national council for climate change in 2019 to drive forward climate action.
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