Mubarak talks to youths, farmers on election agenda
Egypt, Politics, 8/23/2005

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the candidate for the ruling national party, continued his campaign tours and mass meetings in the course of his election campaign for the presidency.

In this phase, Mubarak has concentrated on youths group to explain his election program which he said is focused on lowering unemployment.

Mubarak expressed his care for increasing the size of reclaimed lands in al-Buheira governorate to the north of Cairo, and held a meeting in al-Noubareyah during which he defended his political reforms. He said that the political environment which followed up amendment of article 76 of the constitution that introduced competition in the presidential elections are the best examples that Egypt is proceeding on the right track.

Mubarak reiterated his commitment to political reform, asserting that the Amendment of Article 76 was "the beginning of steps leading to more political reforms, and does not mark the completion of our journey." He renewed his promise to give young people land for reclamation, and support them with loans.

The NDP candidate proceeded to outline a comprehensive program to enhancing agricultural activities in Egypt. The agricultural sector contributes 20% of GDP, as well as 20% of Egypt's total exports, and employs 55% of the population.

Mubarak referred to farmers as the main pillar of Egyptian society, saying that any plans for future development could not be implemented without the involvement of the agricultural sector and farmers. "My promise to you is that the interests of the farmer will always be a priority as we move towards the next phase of our future," he said.

Mubarak said he aims to transform agriculture into a sector capable of dealing with the challenge of unemployment. The program aims to reclaim 1 million feddans in the desert and develop them to 400 new villages in the next six years. The program will also target rural families by providing them each with an average of 10 feddans, and making loans available to the amount of LE100, 000, so they may plant their new land. The vision behind this program calls for cooperation in the areas of technology transfer, marketing know-how, and management between agricultural investors and smaller farmers.

A top priority of the program will be to encourage further growth in agriculture exports, and to make the Egyptian farmer more competitive on the global market. Mubarak declared that "exporting is the future," and while Egypt has succeeded in increasing its agricultural exports over the years, the program aims to renegotiate Egypt's agricultural export quotas with its European trade partners.

However, despite the confirmation made by the Egyptian ministry of information to be neutral in covering campaigns of the candidates, the main concentration of the Egyptian press and mass media is on Mubarak's campaign with his tours front-paging news on the TV, radio and the press.

Previous Stories:
  Egypt's Muslim Brothers to vote in elections, not for Mubarak   (8/22/2005)
  Standards set for Egypt's campaign broadcasts   (8/20/2005)
  Mubarak in Yedioth Ahronoth interview warns of turning Gaza into 'huge prison'   (8/20/2005)

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