Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt's Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) signed two agreements worth $65 million.

The two deals include a KWD 18.5 million loan ($64.6 million) to complete the East Port Said Desalination Plant Project with a capacity of 150 thousands m3/day, according to a ministry's statement.

Investment minister, Sahar Nasr, said that the first deal aims to fulfill the demand for drinking water in the new city being established in the region under the name of "the New East Port Said City."

Nasr expected that the construction works of this project will be finalised by the end of 2019.

Moreover, the minister pinpointed that the project is the second one to which KFAED financially contributes under the Sinai Peninsula Development Project, following the first project for establishing five desalination plants in South Sinai to which KFAED contributed with $100 million.

The second agreement is a KWD 100,000 grant to finance the pilot project of the organic and bio cultivation technology of oil crops in North Sinai, the statement said.

Egypt's minister of housing, Mustafa Madbouly, who was present in the signing ceremony, said that the New East Port Said City would contribute to developing the Suez Canal area, noting that the desalination plant would be one of the largest plants nationwide.