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Dr. Clos (left) with H.E. Mr. Kadri Fathi Abdel-Mottaleb, and (at right) Egypt's Deputy Permanent Representative to UN-HABITAT, Mr. Tamer Gamal Shaheen.
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The new Permanent Representative of the Arab Republic Egypt to UN-HABITAT, H.E. Mr. Kadri Fathi Abdel-Mottaleb, appealed to the agency to help solve the slum problem in the country. Mr. Abdel-Mottaleb made the appeal while presenting his credentials to the Executive Director, Dr. Joan Clos.
The envoy commended the Executive Director on the plan to establish UN-HABITAT’s Regional Office for Arab States in 2011 in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, and said that it will boost the cordial relationship between two entities and bring UN-HABITAT’s services nearer to the people of the region.
Mr. Abdel-Mottaleb said that Egypt is planning growth through industrialization and tourism and noted that the country was involved in the Governance review of UN-HABITAT. He called for cooperation between UN-HABITAT and Egypt in the area of capacity building that will involve the Government of Kenya, the World Bank and the African Development Bank.
He stated that his country was helping the Kenya with the provision of boreholes and the restoration of the Mau Forest and called on UN-HABITAT to help in the Mau Forest issue through housing the displaced persons.
The envoy noted that the problem of the Nile water is that of management. According to him, “There is a lot of water in the Nile but it is not being used properly.”
The Executive Director called for Egypt’s support on budgetary issues, while giving the assurance that the management of the institution will be reinforced.
Dr. Clos suggested that Egypt exports gas to countries in the Lake Victoria region in order to help meet their energy needs and solve the problem of deforestation which is plaguing the region.
On the relationship between cities and economic growth, the Executive Director stated: “In order to address the problems of cities, we need economic growth.”
The envoy congratulated Dr. Clos on his election as the Executive Director and assured him of Egypt’s support at all times.
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