Egypt’s Ministry of International Cooperation on Sunday signed a 50 million euro agreement with the French Development Agency (AFD) to upgrade and develop the metro’s first line, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat announced.
The project will renovate a 44 kilometer metro line from the new al-Marg station in the north to Helwan station in the south, connecting it with the second and third lines.
Mashat added that the project will implement a thorough maintenance of the metro infrastructure systems, preserving the metro first line’s operational services during the upgrade.
The agreement aims to achieve several UN sustainable development goals: such as promoting sustained and inclusive economic growth, granting full and productive employment and decent work, creating resilient infrastructure, fostering innovation and the promotion of inclusive, sustainable industrialization, making cities and settlements safe, sustainable and resilient, and revitalizing the global partnership for sustainable development.
Minister of Transportation Kamel al-Waziry said the agreement was signed as part of multilateral cooperation between Egypt’s development partners, including the AFD, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (ERBD) and the European Investment Bank to fund the project with a total package of 605 million euros – with 205 million euros from the EBRD, 350 million euros from the EIB, and 50 million euros from the AFD.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
