Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued Law No. 157 of 2018 which establishes the Upper Egypt Development Authority (UEDA), following approval from the House of Representatives.
The aim of the law is to establish a plan to accelerate economic, social and urban development of the southern Upper Egypt region, within the framework of the state’s social and economic development plan.
The law also aims to implement several national projects which achieve developmental revenues and a high rate of operation, making them top priority projects in implementation.
The plan seeks to to redistribute investments across Egypt, achieving equal distribution of economic resources to raise the standard of living for citizens in Upper Egypt.
According to the law,priority should be given to the projects that achieve high growth and operating income, while working to attract the necessary investments to achieve sustainable development and economic and social revenues in the targeted areas, with the participation of people of Upper Egypt in development projects.
The law also stipulates that the UEDA shall follow the Prime Minister, and its headquarters wiill be in Cairo. It will also have other branches.. The Prime Minister shall determine the priority and targeted geographical areas for development.
The government submitted the bill to the parliament in February, and it was approved in June.
