Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation hands over certificates of completion of the Italian training program to the sons of Alexandria Water Company ..

Within the framework of enhancing Egypt's role in the environment and climate file at the national, regional and global levels, and under the patronage of Eng. Ahmed Gaber, Chairman of Alexandria Water Company, the company's representatives from its sons succeeded in obtaining a certificate of completion of the study in the field of "Environmental Impact Assessment, Flood Management and Water Modeling", presented by the Italian "CIHEAM Bari" Institute for Mediterranean Affairs, within the "Water Knowledge" project, established between the Egyptian and Italian governments, and under the supervision of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation, the "HydroAid" Foundation, the "Italian Agency for Development Cooperation", and the international organization "UNESCO".

The completion ceremony of the study was attended by His Excellency Dr. / Hani Sweilem - Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, the Italian Ambassador in Cairo, the Dean of the Italian CIHEAM Bari Institute, and the Director of the Italian Agency for Development.

Dr. Hani Sweilem, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, praised the existing cooperation between Egypt and Italy in the field of water, which This is evident in the implementation of the "Water Knowledge Project" funded by the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation in Egypt. His Excellency also pointed out two of the most prominent challenges facing the water sector in Egypt, namely the challenge of population growth and the challenge of climate change, which affects countries around the world, not just Egypt.

These challenges are exacerbated by the limited water resources in Egypt, which do not exceed 60 billion cubic meters of water annually, compared to water needs estimated at about 114 billion cubic meters annually, which prompts Egypt to expand the reuse of agricultural drainage water to bridge part of the gap between resources and needs, as water is recycled along the canal and drain network by about 21 billion cubic meters annually. The state has also established 3 major stations for water reuse; namely the New Delta Station, Bahr El-Baqar Station, and El-Mahsama Station with a total treatment capacity of up to 4.8 billion cubic meters of water.

Dr. Sweilem also pointed out the urgent need for training and building the capacity of workers to use water treatment technologies and operate treatment plants, and he recommended training workers in the field of water desalination.

The project aims to prepare highly experienced specialized cadres to face water challenges in the Mediterranean region. The training program lasted for a month at the Regional Training Center of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in the Industrial Zone in 6th of October, under the supervision of the best Italian experts. Each training week ends with a test to measure the extent of scientific achievement and benefit received by the trainee.

This project contributes to:

* Building the capacities of Egyptian and African specialists, and training a new generation of engineers and technicians to serve water issues in Egypt and Africa.

* Population growth and climate change are the most prominent challenges facing the water sector in Egypt, which are exacerbated in light of the limited water resources in Egypt.

* Expanding the reuse of agricultural drainage water, and an urgent need to train workers on the use of water treatment technologies and the operation of existing treatment plants.

The following gentlemen participated in this celebration:

Dr. Ahmed El Shamy

Director General of Water Safety and Security

Dr. Alaa Nour El Din

Director of Quality Measurement and Accreditation Department

Eng. Ramadan Mohamed

Director of Water Research Department

Eng. Amira El Sayed

Planning and Development Engineer at the General Department of the Master Plan

Eng. Hadeer Ramadan

Planning and Development Engineer at the General Department of the Master Plan

Eng. Ahmed Jaber, Chairman of the Company, was keen to congratulate all members of the participating team on their distinguished representation in passing all tests with excellent grades and obtaining the final certificate.