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Wednesday, Septemper 22, 1999
Brothers and Sisters, Sons and Daughters Our gathering today is to us a source of pleasure and pride, because any direct relation to youth is associated in our minds with the future of the homeland and its coming generations. As an object of our utmost attention, we do exert every possible effort to this end. Today, as we review the results of the dedicated exertions of this great people over the past years, we feel satisfied and hopeful enough to redouble our efforts on this way. Today, we celebrate the handover of youth project housing units to those who are looking forward to a better future and a stable life under the umbrella of a beloved homeland. This project seeks to provide housing under soft conditions for young people taking into consideration circumstances of those who are just starting their careers. This is a part of a bigger project adopted by the state in order to address one of the major problems handed down to the Egyptian society from past decades. Lodging is a basic requirement of safe life and stable future. Our achievement today is only one step on the way to realize an unprecedented leap in this field with the object of providing modern houses for young people with suitable costs subsidized by the state. Scheduled for completion in the middle of next year, the project has been carried out in three phases covering a total of 73,000 housing units. Today, we celebrate the handover of 30,000 units accounting for 60% of the project. The state’s efforts are not confined to the government’s input in this respect, substantial as it is, these efforts have been supplemented over the past years by a complementary role played by civil community organizations, where non-governmental organizations did their best to address this problem. Governmental and non-governmental efforts focused on low-income categories with a first priority to young people. This reflects our interest in the state’s social responsibility that has right from the start received our full attention. Moreover, we have always been mindful of the requirement to achieve balance between classes and categories, constantly backing those in need of economic support and social protection without distinction or prejudice as we all belong to common homeland with a common past, present and future. Since I took over, it has been my belief that the legitimacy of rule stems from the ability to make basic services available to citizens and provide care for categories without distinction. Honouring my oath upon being elected as president by the masses of our people, I have been commited to look after the people’s interests. Thus, our plans were fueled with enthusiasm and seriousness by the drive to make real achievements and serious projects benefiting the largest numbers of citizens in every single village or city all over Egypt. Brothers and Sisters, When I first assumed responsibility, we have been faced with major challenges and serious difficulties especially when we tried to address the conditions of Egyptian economy, existing at the beginning of the Eighties, that was suffering from a structural imbalance brought about by protracted processes over past decades. For instance, we were faced by a steady increase in population growth rate that almost surpassed all development rates, a noticeable deterioration in basic services and a visible decline in infrastructure and a conspicuous disequilibrium in financial and economic balances including budget deficit and huge foreign debts. It was logical, during the first months of assuming responsibilty, to call for a nation-wide economic conference, where all Egyptian experts participated with no exception in order to rehabilitate the Egyptian economy. Thus, we managed to define a comprehensive strategy to resuscitate the Egyptian economy. We then started the economic reform progamme with all strains involved to confront this deteriorating condition. Moreover, we straight forwardly addressed the core of probems, seeking radical solution, rather than short-term ones that, while only relieving us of the burden, will still carry it forward to coming generations. Right from the beginning, we have been faced by the most significant challenge of how to balance between economic reform on the one hand and the need to maintain intact the interests of the low-income brackets on the other. Then, it was incumbent on us to keep citizens thoroughly informed with full transparency and clarity of all developments so as to make them aware that they are the ultimate beneficiaries of all measures and decisions taken. Perhaps the common citizen was always wandering about the exact meaning of economic reform. The answer to this question touches on aspects related to the philosophy of the ruling system that is closely associated with the spirit of the age. This also calls for reconsidering a number of premises that have proven to be short of any further evolution and of meeting demands of the masses. This has required us to seek to first restore balance of the state financial flows, then to remedy the negative effects of the public sector along with enhancing its positive aspects, most important of which is the provision of basic commodities and essential services to low income brackets. Later we considered the possiblity of opening the door for the national private sector to shoulder its responsibility for economic development under clear-cut controls, with a top priority to the social dimension. This is because the core of our obligations was to alleviate burdens to the lower income categories who constitute the majority of our people. We successfully managed to put in place national concept of privatization. It was meant on the one hand to boost the efficiency of productive units, and to relieve the state of some burdens, thus allowing it to focus on its basic responsibilities of providing citizens with the necessary social services on the other. Non governmental organizations were encouraged to join forces with the state in the fields of services and social development. Moreover, part of the objectives of the economic reform progamme was to raise labour productivity to ensure a sustainable increase of their income. We seek to find real jobs that would absorb new generations and secure them a real income that would enable them to carry on with their future life. Brothers and Sisters, This would have never been possible in the absence of an economic reform programme that took into consideration as one of its top priorities the social dimension in development and growth. Over the past years, Egypt has managed with noticeable success to proceed with its economic reform programme without affecting the balance of social justice while supporting low-income brackets. The question of social responsibility was for us a basic preoccupation during our strenuous negotiations with the international donor organizations. Finally we reached an agreement, bearing in mind the interests and needs of the working classes. We have not allowed and will never allow under no circumstances in future the privatization programme, to have any negative side effects on any categories of the society. These were the essential pillars that have underpinned our action under the framework of comprehensive reform adopted by the state over the past two decades . However, it is high time to develop these premises into an integrated social philosophy that governs our progress in the next decade, and guide our way to the second generation of reform. The guidelines of this philosophy are represented in three dimensions which will define the scope of our future action on all arenas as a nation, government and community in order to ensure decent life and secure future. The first dimension of this social philosophy focuses on the Egyptian family as the pivot of our movement and all future-related orientations. The family is not only the nucleus of the society but also the the mainstay of comprehensive development. Any conception for the future of the family will automatically encompass all significant dimensions of our life, starting with childhood, through motherhood and all age groups that are no longer capable of working. The family is so closely related to health and education issues that family care is the natural approach to the promotion of community as a whole. The second dimension provides for exploring a stable policy to define individual-community relationship based on social contract, under which every individual contributes all his effort to the society in return for community-provided guarantees for a modern decent life. The third dimension is related to the new international conditions that impose new social and economic facts. We can not deny that globalization has become tangible reality in our modern life. We are also aware that globalization has its negative effects on states and communities. Therefore, it is an essential part of our social policy to reinforce social security net, so as, to provide protection for individuals, care for the family and guarantee the rights of low-income brackets in a world that is rapidly changing and progressing at unprecedented pace. Such philosophy will define the basic orientation of our social and economic policy in the coming period; based on 5 basic considerations: First: The state is the guardian of the community; custodian of its values and constituent elements. The state’s role will not be minimized under the market system; but will rather shift to the pursuit of securing the safety of the community. While the market economy ensures efficient utilization of our national resources, it is the state, on the other hand, that will guarantee the fair distribution of such resources to various categories of the community according to serious criteria that ensure that the rights of the ordinary citizens are protected, exploitation prevented and monopoly combated. Ultimately, the state is the conscience of the community that sets the pace for all powers within it; besides being always aligned to the low-income categories as well as those unable to meet their basic needs. It is our aim to increase the income of all citizens without any exception. We also seek to bridge gaps between varying income levels in the framework of a fair national policy designed to raise the living standard of the working classes. Second: We will remain committed to the goal of completing the structure of the Egyptian community with its institutions. Apart from being an active partner to development plans and reform programmes; it also represents the receptacle of social values and the frame of progressive traditions. We always seek to motivate the Egyptian community to fully perform its role. We are satisfied with the input of the non-governmental organizations and the initiations of the voluntary organizations; all of which contribute to the same goal, namely to serve citizens, improve their quality of life and meet their need. The Law on Non-Governmental Organizations, recently promulgated, aims at providing the greatest possible effectiveness and freedom of action for NGOs to prove worthy of bearing their new responsibilities that are now an essential constituent of contemporary life in various countries of the world. The state -any state- will not be able, whatever its potentials are, to meet alone all development requirements at the same time; it needs faithful effort and persevering work. Besides, the community with its bodies, institutions and organizations represent liaison between the private sector and the low-income categories as well as a channel for linking national capital with the less unable categories. It is through this media that voluntary efforts of the private sectors intended to combat poverty and diseases; support education and health and bridge gaps between all categories of the people. Third: The base of comprehensive development, rather than being only a part of economic reform or some sort of financial balance, should be expanded to encompass, per necessity, upgrading the quality of life, improving performance and raising efficiency of services, thus, allowing common citizens to feel the impact of development in his daily life. Development can never provide all that we need in a short period, but it is only required to provide a socio-economic environment that allows the individual to secure his own future as well as that of his family in such a way that serves his interest and that of the society. The state, starting from the President, will remain the prime guardian of the progress of development and the guarantor of equitable distribution of development revenues. We have placed visible emphasis on Upper Egypt, being the cradle of our civilization and an over whelming part of our national soil. As a result of this new perspective, we sought to encourage the major projects and new investments outside the narrow valley, in a serious bid to ensure balance distribution of state care to all segments of the nation. To this end, new cities have been spread out all over the country with the object of extending development umbrella over the largest area of our country. Fourth: Small and medium-size enterprises by both youth and women should be given a top priority and special attention. Our target is to turn working women and new generations, in particular, into active elements in making progress in Egypt rather than absolutely depending on the government sector alone. It is one of foremost objective to turn the Egyptian citizen from status of being just a holder who deals with his basic needs in a cursory manner to a real owner of permenant assets to be built up through accumulated human work within a law-based state. For example, ownership of his house is what places a citizen on firm ground both at present and in future. Various housing projects of the latest years, adopted by the state in recent years, supported by the private sector and complemented by non-governmental efforts represent a true expression of our objects and the nature of our goals. The state that supports popular housing will continue to do so, the state that maintains social balance will never stop to do so, while the state that believes in social accountability of private sector will not abandon this belief. Fifth: Attention to modern education is the core of our future educational policy. The main objective of modern education is to serve comprehensive development. It is also our means to prepare new generations and rebuild the society in the spirit of the future. Modern education creates a citizen capable of understanding both his rights and obligations with full sense of belonging to his homeland and total awareness of what is going on around him. Modern education generates a comprehensive vision and deep awareness of the relationship between the social and the economic dimensions along the state’s course. A citizen will remain associated with development to the extent of his awareness that permits the community to understand and address problems. While we have relatively succeeded in addressing problem of over population over the past years through successful family planning programmes, then, modern education will remain our principal way on the long run to radically confront this problem that poses as a major challenge on the road to national development. Brothers and Sisters, The economic successes scored in Egypt over the past years compled with the social dimension, provide indicators that give us trust in the present and hope for the future. This makes us forge our way forward to face problems with a powerful spirit and firm determination. To this end, we look forward to the upcoming period as a one of great social transformation that supplement comprehensive economic reform. This necessitates an enlarged field of vision for us to give a real push to social development in Egypt. The starting point could be to formulate a comprehensive social policy based on clear-cut and agreed criteria with the participation of various governmental and non-governmental sectors directly or indirectly related to social work. This is an essential point as coordination of policies of all ministries, governmental and non-governmental organizations is necessary, especially as regards social development issues and their application programmes. This is because these policies interlap in application with various ministries an organizations. As we started the march with the economic conference in 1982 so as to put right the Egyptian economy. I have asked the concerned authorities to organize, by the end of this year, a national social conference where governmental and non-governmental organizations are to participate including experts, specialists and professionals. The object of this conference is to evolve a clear-cut conception and common understanding to the concept of comprehensive social development over the coming period and identify priorities and policies to guarantee a social awakening that goes hand in hand with the economic achievements already made. Brothers and Sisters, Sons and Daughters, In our gathering today let me talk to you on this occasion that is related to the successful confrontation with one of our biggest problems in the recent years specially for youth, namely the problem of housing. It might be useful to say that this meeting takes place at a crucial time of our progress towards our great goal, a real juncture towards our great hopes, after a complete century will wind down, unfolding a third century of human history. This relates to a new phase of national action in our country, for which we have paved the way across past years of transition. No doubt you are also aware that the new period requires dedicated thought, firm determination and faithful intention. Therefore, through you, I call upon all segments of the community to develop a common feeling of the duty waiting for us, in order to realize all expectations. This will never be possible until a deep sense of national responsibility has been attained and all obstacles that have earlier obstructed our course over past years removed. Following our sustained hard work over the past two decades for the sake of God and the homeland, our endeavours started to bear fruit. Thanks to Allah that guided us to the right path and enlightened our hearts with faith, taught us tolerance and contentment, made justice as a link between ourselves and our folk, made friendly relations and mercy between us. Thanks to Allah that made our main concern to protect the weak, tyrannized and needy, to side with the interests of the common Egyptian citizen who symbolizes power and nobility of descent in a time-honoured people. Thanks to Allah that enabled us to hold a coherent society where there is no place for grudge and hate, all people cooperate for devotion and piety, and all powers join forces to implement the goals of awakening. I pray to Allah to give us power and determination and guide us to the right path to accomplish all Egypt’s aspirations for progress, glory decent living for our people at present and in future. He is the Best Custodian and Supporter. May Allah’s peace and mercy be upon you. |
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