Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouli said New Sohag City is one of the “3G twin cities”, pointing out that after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi issued directives for developing Upper Egypt, New Sohag was one of the cities that were focused on for implementing a real development process “which we see here today on the ground”.
Madbouli made the remarks on Thursday during President Sisi’s inauguration of a number of development projects in the Upper Egyptian governorate of Sohag.
Although a decision to establish New Sohag City was taken in the early 2000s, the city had been inhabited by just a few dozens of families until 2014, the prime minister said.
The city also had no services or link with the original city of Sohag, he added.
Madbouli said the land on which the New Sohag University was established had been licensed in 2006, but until 2015 only a single building was founded containing university auditoriums.
The major development process carried out at Sohag University is a result of efforts made over the past four years, he noted.
In the same regard, the prime minister highlighted the efforts exerted over the past eight years to improve the quality of life for Egyptian citizens, which he said is the objective of President Sisi and state institutions.
Madbouli said the Sohag governorate was suffering in the past from power outages, an almost complete absence of sewage services, in addition to the poor condition of drinking water, schools and health units.
Upper Egypt had been neglected for very long decades, the prime minister said, noting that the governorates of Luxor and Aswan were included in the first phase of the Universal Health Insurance System and Sohag will be among the coming phases.
The government is currently working to improve the quality of education and put an end to the problem of unsafe housing that existed before, he added.
He also pointed out to the efforts made by the government to expand social protection nets, develop housing and utilities services, provide basic services such as electricity, natural gas and transport, generate job opportunities, and develop small projects for the youth.
The prime minister said President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has repeatedly ordered that Upper Egypt and its inhabitants be on top of the national action agenda, noting in this regard that the investments pumped into Upper Egyptian governorates over the past seven years amounted to LE1.5 trillion out of a total of LE7 trillion invested by the State nationwide.
