Egypt’s President Organizes Egyptian Youth behind Long-term Development Plan

President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi went before a youth conference this past week, to mobilize that key sector around the principles which informed Egypt’s just-released, long-term integrated development plan, “Egypt Sustainable Development Strategy 2030.” The plan situates the nation’s development over the next 15 years in the New World Economic Order emerging around the Asian nations, while el-Sisi, in his address to the youth, makes an unmistakeable reference to Franklin Roosevelt’s reconstruction success, without naming him.

“Let everyone hear it: Our strategy is: 1. Preserve the state. 2. Build the state. The most important factor is infrastructure. The Americans did this after the 1920s crisis. But they had a state which was still standing on firm feet. They did not have economic or lack of infrastructure as we do. We have a lack of 70,000 km in roads…. This is not an appropriate infrastructure of a state. We built 5,000 km in one year. We have to build the rest in 10 years. This is not only to employ people, but to provide for economic activity and increase of productivity [and] to save time and energy for the service of society. We can reduce transport in some cases from 60 minutes to 10 minutes. This is a great benefit,” the President told the youth.

On energy: “We solved the energy crisis in one year,” he said. “We will increase electricity by more that 50% until the end of 2017. More than what Egypt produced in its entire history. This is not only for urban consumption. The new electricity will be for new industrial investments too.”

On Egypt’s support for Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile: “Let’s talk about water and national security. There is a dam being built, as you know…. There will be about 10 billion cubic meter annually less water in the Nile. How do we compensate for that. Shall we leave the farmers without water? No, we will save 10 billion cubic meter annually by building water management systems in Egypt. Please, any of you who want to talk about this subject, should first study it. Do your homework before you talk about this issue with other people.”

“Other people mock us because of our poverty. But I will not be silent,” he said. “But don’t respond to those who harm you. Instead, work, build and reconstruct your country. This is the response. We have 35,000 villages that are built randomly on agricultural lands. We will stop the destruction of the agricultural land by building new, modern villages in the Western Desert. We will provide people with housing that is worthy of human beings. We will build schools, health care center and roads for them. We will build 160,000 housing units every year.”

El-Sisi called on the youth to join him in taking care of Egypt’s people. “Listen to me,” he said. “I don’t play around. I have no interest but the interest of Egypt. My country and nothing more. And I know what I am talking about. Anybody who touches Egypt, I will supplant him from the face of Earth. There are 90 million Egyptians. When I meet God, I will tell Him, ‘I took care of them.’ Do you want to take care of them? Join me! If you don’t want to, just shut up! Go and take a look at what we are building!”