Kuwait Economic Development fund to contribute EGP 1 bn to Sinai development projects: Investment Minister Sahar Nasr signed two agreements worth EGP 1 bn (KWD 17.5 mn) with the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development yesterday to support development projects in North Sinai, a ministry statement says. Under the first agreement, KWD 12.5 mn will be allocated to establishing and developing infrastructure for drinking water in El Arish under the government’s development strategy for the Sinai Peninsula. The second agreement will see KWD 5 mn allocated to the reclamation of 400 feddans in North Sinai for agriculture and farming. The new agreements are part of the Kuwaiti fund’s financing framework for development projects in the Sinai, which will see it provide some USD 900 mn in funding over the course of three years.

Nasr also discussed cooperation with Romania’s Business, Trade, and Entrepreneurship Minister Ilan Laufer yesterday. The two officials agreed to bring into effect four MoUs that had been signed during Nasr’s visits to Romania in July on collaboration agriculture-focused investments and SME development. Egypt and Romania had also inked agreements in August on tourism promotion and scrapping visa requirements for diplomats.