The much maligned multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects undertaken by Egypt in recent years are essential to the country's economic development and the creation of an attractive investment climate, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said on Monday.
Speaking at a ceremony marking Police Day, the Egyptian leader also assured Egypt's vulnerable of the state's continued support in the face of soaring food prices, while dismissing claims that the economic crisis rocking the country was of his government's own making.
Mr El Sisi has for months tirelessly defended his economic policies, saying the national projects that have cost the nation billions of dollars over the past seven years were not to blame for Egypt's present woes, as many of his critics contend.
Those projects include new cities such as the $60 billion new capital east of Cairo, thousands of kilometres of new roads, electric trains, a nuclear reactor and hundreds of bridges.
On Monday, Mr El Sisi offered his most detailed defence of his handling of the economy, particularly the projects he has personally supervised since taking office nearly nine years ago.
“The mega development projects undertaken by the state are not for show or for bragging. They laid the foundation for a [suitable] investment environment; and it takes essential infrastructure to achieve that, along with comprehensive economic development that lifts the standard of living for everyone,” he said.
“It is impossible, and that's not debatable, for us to make progress in modern industries and have massive exports without the necessary tools to achieve that.”
Mr El Sisi blamed the Russia-Ukraine war for his country's economic woes as well as the coronavirus pandemic before it.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, Egypt's currency has lost about 50 per cent of its value. Inflation is in the double digits — 21.3 per cent year-on-year in November — and a persistent foreign currency crunch continues to devastate local industries dependent on foreign components or material.
“We know that the impact of the crisis is huge and cause pain to our people, especially those with limited income and the most needy who are in a massive struggle every day,” he said.
“We stand by them, offering support to secure the needs of their families in the face of rising prices. I assure you that our support for them is permanent and that … will not change.”
BANGLADESH SQUAD
Mashrafe Mortaza (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim (wicketkeeper), Mahmudullah, Shakib Al Hasan (vice captain), Mohammad Mithun, Sabbir Rahaman, Mosaddek Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Abu Jayed (Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)
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MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
SPECS
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Company%20profile
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Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Emergency phone numbers in the UAE
Estijaba – 8001717 – number to call to request coronavirus testing
Ministry of Health and Prevention – 80011111
Dubai Health Authority – 800342 – The number to book a free video or voice consultation with a doctor or connect to a local health centre
Emirates airline – 600555555
Etihad Airways – 600555666
Ambulance – 998
Knowledge and Human Development Authority – 8005432 ext. 4 for Covid-19 queries
THE%20SPECS
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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
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ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Petrarch: Everywhere a Wanderer
Christopher Celenza,
Reaktion Books
