Rania el Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, affirmed that the Egyptian state is paying a greater attention to the development of Upper Egypt governorates.
She explained that such efforts aim to achieve real development to improve quality of life and provides decent living opportunities for citizens in Upper Egypt, in line with directives of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.
The minister’s remarks came during her visit to Qena Governorate to inspect a number of development projects in cooperation with the United Nations and several development partners, where she was accompanied by Elena Panova, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt, as part of the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the UN.
During her presentation of a report on investments in Upper Egypt in the fiscal year 2025/2026 plan and investments under presidential initiative “Decent Life,” Mashat explained that government investments directed to the Upper Egypt regions in the 2025/2026 fiscal year plan are estimated at around EGP 65.7 billion.
She noted that South Upper Egypt region receives the largest share of these investments at EGP 31.7 billion, followed by the North Upper Egypt region with EGP 21.8 billion, while the Central Upper Egypt region receives about EGP 12.3 billion of government investments.
She pointed out that Upper Egypt governorates account for 68% of the allocations in the first phase of the presidential initiative “Decent Life”, totaling EGP 237 billion. This benefits 11 million citizens, representing 61% of all beneficiaries.
According to the report, government investments directed to Qena Governorate—part of the South Upper Egypt region—amount to EGP 4.8 billion in the 2025/2026 plan.
She also noted that Qena is ranked third in terms of allocations under the first phase of the “Decent Life” initiative, after Minya and Sohag governorates, with EGP 39.41 billion allocated to Qena.
Regarding investments directed to the South Upper Egypt region in the 2025/2026 plan, she stated that Minya governorate receives the largest share with 20.5% of government investments in the region, followed by Aswan with 12.8%, then the Red Sea governorate with 11.1%, and both Assiut and Sohag with 10.8% and 10.7% respectively.
