Minister of Local Development: Inspects 12 sites across 4 governorates in preparation for launching the “Productive Village” initiative

Cairo – Ahmed Sabri: Dr. Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development and Environment, announced that officials from the Central Unit of the “Life in a Village” initiative at the ministry, in collaboration with officials from the Ministry of Industry, will continue field visits to the governorates targeted in the first phase of the “Productive Village” initiative. These visits aim to carry out the necessary coordination and inspect proposed sites for planned industrial projects.

This comes as part of the Ministry of Local Development and Environment’s follow-up on preparations underway for launching the “Productive Village” initiative in villages benefiting from the presidential “Life in a Village” initiative. The initiative will be implemented through cooperation among the ministries of Local Development and Environment, Industry, Agriculture, Planning, Economic Development, and Social Solidarity.

In this context, Dr. Walea Gad al-Karim, Director of the Central Unit of the “Life in a Village” initiative at the ministry, Dr. Layla Shaghat, Assistant Minister of Industry, and Dr. Ahmed Al-Sharqawi, project consultant, conducted field visits to the governorates of Fayoum, Monufia, Qena, and Luxor. The visits aimed to follow up on the implementation of directives issued by the Minister of Local Development and Environment in Circular Letter No. 209 of 2026, concerning the inventory and identification of underutilized facilities and lands for their reuse in the “Productive Village” initiative. Field visits were also conducted to 12 candidate sites across the four governorates to assess their technical suitability and compliance with the initiative’s requirements.

Awad noted that the “Productive Village” initiative aims to build on the outcomes of the presidential “Life in a Village” initiative, leveraging the infrastructure components developed in the initiative’s villages. It seeks to repurpose facilities and lands whose original purposes have become obsolete, in partnership with the private sector and the Egyptian Federation of Industries, to localize export-oriented industries and support related supply chains. This will contribute to creating sustainable jobs and enhancing the role of Egyptian villages in manufacturing and exports.