Amna: Local administration plays leading role in adapting and addressing climate change

11 Nov 2022


Major General Hisham Amna, Minister of Local Development, participated this morning in a seminar on Korean environmental technologies, policies and capacity-building related to climate and building activities with partner countries organized by the Korean Institute for Industry and Environmental Technology (KEITI) in the Blue Zone in the presence of Mr. Choi Hyung Jin, President of the Institute and Dr. Kim Sang Heyup Co-Chairman The Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth Committee of South Korea and a number of leaders of the Institute and the Ministry of Local Development to benefit and exchange experiences in promoting global actions to address climate change.

At the beginning of his speech, Major General Hisham Amna, Minister of Local Development, expressed his sincere thanks and appreciation to the Korean Institute of Environmental Industries and Technology for organizing this important event, and for his participation in the twenty-seventh Climate Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, which is a continuation of Egyptian-Korean cooperation, which began to take new horizons in the comprehensive development partnership in implementation of the mandates of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and to consolidate the bonds of friendship between the Egyptian and Korean peoples.


The Minister of Local Development expressed his pride in the Korean government's initiative towards considering Egypt a strategic partner in the Middle East and North Africa region, and Major General Hisham Amna said that during his recent visit to South Korea last month he was honored to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Korean side to cooperate in benefiting from the Korean experience in local development, especially with regard to the initiative of the President of the Republic to develop the Egyptian countryside (a decent life), and the efforts of the local administration in Egypt to develop the solid waste management system.

The Minister of Local Development pointed out that the local level and local initiatives play a leading role in adapting and addressing climate change through the concerted efforts of the government, civil society and the private sector, and leveraging technology and innovation to address climate change.
Major General Hisham Amna stressed that the Egyptian government is working under the mandates of His Excellency President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to strengthen partnership and cooperation initiatives between the foreign and Egyptian private sectors on the one hand and the Egyptian government on the other hand to localize technologies and industries closely related to green transformation, carbon mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change.

The Minister said that Egypt's Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 has paid attention to the municipal waste management system through various objectives and indicators that measure the performance of waste management at the local and national levels, pointing out that it is a vision based on the fact that the appropriate and effective management of solid waste is a resource for a circular economy, and an important factor in the establishment of green jobs, enhancing livelihoods and income for a wide segment of Egyptians, as well as increasing the ability to reduce the consumption of natural resources to ensure the protection of the environment.
Major General Hisham Amna praised the efforts of the Korean Institute of Environmental Industries and Technology and its contributions to Egypt's ambitious waste system management program, and these efforts included, for example, the development of a number of factories that produce alternative fuels from municipal waste in the governorates of Alexandria, Minya, Sohag and Gharbia, especially as these efforts have already contributed to reducing previous negative practices in waste management and reducing the proportions of harmful emissions as a result of the open burning of random dumps through sound solid waste management and Use them as a source of derived fuel and for compost.
Amna expressed the aspiration of the Ministry of Local Development to cooperate in the implementation of future projects with the aim of modernizing and improving waste management systems by deepening cooperation between the Ministry of Local Development and the Korean Institute of Environmental Industries and Technology in the implementation of a number of investments and other projects in the sector to complete the construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure necessary for the management of the waste system.
The Minister of Local Development welcomed the vision presented by the Korean Institute of Environmental Industries and Technology to establish a central simulation unit for training and skills development, at the Local Development Training Center in Saqqara, and we hope that this ambitious vision will be implemented from January 2023 to December 2024.
Major General Hisham Amna concluded his speech by saying: "I reiterate my welcome to the partnership and cooperation with government institutions and Korean private sector institutions in the field of local administration and the field of solid waste management in Egypt, and I emphasize that I have directed the governorates and the Ministry's team to provide all possible support and facilitations in this regard and that the Egyptian state will make every effort to continue to achieve Egypt's 2030 goals, the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda.