Dr. Mostafa Madbouly delivered, Prime MinisterThis evening, he delivered a speech during the celebration held by the Social Housing and Real Estate Finance Support Fund in the New Capital. To celebrate the achievements of 10 years of the presidential initiative “Housing for All Egyptians.”
The Prime Minister began his speech by welcoming the ministers and the attendees, indicating his great keenness to be present at the celebration, and said: “This is because this project is one of the projects dearest to my heart for me on a personal level, and I would like at the beginning to extend all thanks and appreciation, on behalf of all those who have benefited from this project and all Egyptians, to the real dreamer of this project, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who adopted, followed, and is still following up on the implementation of this project.”
The Prime Minister added: I remember when I was Minister of Housing, when we started this program, and in 2015 we announced it, and we had identified a number of units, and more than five or six times the number applied; So I went to His Excellency Mr. President, and presented to His Excellency the situation. He replied that everyone who meets the conditions will be provided with a unit, and for me as a minister and as a government, implementing a program of this magnitude was a qualitative and real change in the state’s orientations, but His Excellency Mr. President’s vision was to “get ahead of the people.” Because very simply there is a demand and need for this type of basic services, and if they are not met, citizens will solve their problem themselves, and what will this solution be? Building slums and encroaching on agricultural lands.
Dr. Mustafa Madbouly indicated that several meetings were held with His Excellency Mr. President, to follow up on this project, and he was asking about the extent of the achievement. His Excellency was also keen in many cases to visit the projects himself and hand over the unit contracts to the beneficiaries.
The Prime Minister considered that this project was the most eloquent response to skepticism about “the state’s interest in social justice and social protection.” It is one of dozens or even hundreds of projects implemented by the Egyptian state over the past ten years, pointing out that we then find those wondering: Does the citizen feel the fruits of development?
Dr. Mustafa Madbouly pointed out that in this project we see the implementation of more than a million housing units for low-income people, and more than 300,000 units for residents of unsafe areas, in addition to more than half a million units for middle-income people. We are talking about two million housing units that will be inhabited by more than 10 million citizens, considering that this is one project among the state’s projects, in addition to dozens of other projects and other presidential initiatives that have been implemented, and this alone represents a simple response to the question: Has the quality of life of the Egyptian citizen been achieved during the last ten years or not?
The Prime Minister stressed that the journey is certainly still long, but the happiest moment for him remains the one in which he participates in handing over contracts, and sees the joy in the eyes of the beneficiaries. A young man is filled with happiness because he was able to secure his future, or when I see a woman (widow or divorced) receiving the contract with tears of joy in her eyes, saying: The state has secured her life, and praying for His Excellency Mr. President and the state that provided her with a roof to live under, saying: I think this is the most eloquent message that can be given about this giant project.
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly pointed out that today we see the scale of achievement in this project, and it is one of the largest projects in the world, in terms of the quality of implementation, the method of real estate financing, and the great leaps it has achieved, and its greatness is represented in creating an integrated community in these areas, which includes housing, services, roads, means of transportation, and recreational services, and the occupancy rate of this project is 94%; No one picks up the unit and turns it off, but rather turns it on.
The Prime Minister explained that this project is an important part of building the “New Republic,” which we are all proud to participate in building.
The Prime Minister indicated that this program is the first barrier to confront random growth and encroachment on agricultural lands, explaining that by monitoring the rates and rates of encroachment on agricultural lands, and compared to about fifteen years ago, we find that these practices have decreased to reach less than 5 or 10% of the size of the lands that were lost in previous periods due to random construction, pointing out that this represents part of the solution, while the other part is that this program is considered one of the largest programs that provide job opportunities; It provided about 4 million job opportunities, noting that when the implementation of this project began, the unemployment rate was 13%, and today it has decreased to 6%, so it can be said that this project is a major part of the radical solutions to deal with a dilemma, which is the problem of unemployment.
The Prime Minister added that this project is also one of the main drivers of the process of accelerating urban development in various new cities, pointing out that, for example; The city of “Capital Gardens”, which is close to the new capital, was empty land four years ago, and several billion dollars were invested in its infrastructure sectors, and the construction of 100,000 housing units within the “Housing for All Egyptians” initiative, which has already been occupied by citizens. He explained that today there is an increase in requests for housing units in this city, and the state is racing against time to expand and establish more of them, saying: “We have succeeded in attracting Egyptian youth to reside in new cities instead of old cities,” stressing that this is the main goal of implementing Such national projects.
The Prime Minister noted that this project contributed to achieving a broad development process, explaining that the construction sector is linked to more than 100 other industries, noting that a large number of components of housing projects were previously imported, but with the boom in the volume of implementation of these projects, the localization of many industries and supplies related to this sector began. This contributes to covering all the state’s needs in this vital field instead of importing them.
Dr. Mustafa Madbouly continued, saying: I remember with the utmost honesty that in the years 2015 and 2016, there were contractors receiving work from the Ministry of Housing at that time, the size of which did not exceed the construction of two or three buildings, and in the recent period when I met them, I found some of them talking about 300 and 400 buildings in one project, and employing tens of thousands of young people, and they now have a huge amount of logistics, building materials, etc.; They are models that bring joy and happiness.
He added: This project was able to create large companies and entities in the country that started small and then became a model of success. Most importantly, they set out to work outside Egypt to implement projects. Therefore, this large project, by all standards, is “innovation.” As everyone knows, before joining the government, I was working in a United Nations program, and so I know that by all standards, this project is one of the most successful global programs implemented anywhere and at any time. Therefore, once again, I extend all my greetings and appreciation to everyone who contributed, participated, and implemented this “big dream” that has today turned into a “tangible reality.”
Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister, concluded his speech by saying: The last part that I would like to conclude with is that we have entered into this file for other categories; We started with low-income people, but we found that there is a middle-income segment that needs these types of units, so we began developing the program over time to introduce units that are compatible with middle-income people. I will not say that we compete with the private sector, but on the contrary, we integrate with it. This is because the private sector did not provide this type of units with the financial capacity that suits these groups. Today, thank God, we have been able to enter to target other groups alongside the low-income.
He continued: Here I would like to confirm this message. Middle-income people are a top priority for the government, not only in housing, but in education and health, and in the new schools that we are implementing, such as Japanese schools, Nile schools, schools for outstanding students, and private and technological universities. They all target the middle-income segment, which is the group that is always said to be the foundation of any country. Therefore, the state today pays all attention to them at this stage, along with the low-income groups for whom this project was implemented, with the rest of the great initiatives that were implemented, such as “Solidarity and Dignity.” The presidential initiative “A Decent Life” that we are currently working on, and all the presidential initiatives for health care and education, have truly built a “new republic” of which we are all proud.
He said: Once again, I renew my thanks and appreciation to everyone who participated and contributed to this project, led by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the owner of this idea and initiative. Without His Excellency’s diligent daily follow-up, this dream would not have come to reality.
