Wali, WB deputy chief review joint ventures

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Youssef Wali yesterday examined with World Bank Deputy Chief, Kemal Dervish, the works in the joint ventures between the Ministry and the Bank.

They probed the $29.5 million Marsa Matrouh development project, the $67 million agricultural advancement project and the $91 million agricultural services upgrading project in east Delta.

The meeting covered studies made on the integrated rural development project in Sohaj worth $93.7 million. The Local Administration Ministry is participating in this project.

Moreover, they went over the $300 million south valley soft-loan investment projects.

Dr. Wali praised the Ministry-WB relations that helped execute agricultural policy programs throughout the eighties and nineties.

On his part, Dervish, undermined the effect of budget deficit on the economy march and the economic reform program in Egypt in the coming phase.

He called on the government to support exports and slash custom tariffs on the intermediary and capital goods.

In an address given Monday night before the Economic Forum of Egypt's members, he said that a slim deficit in the budget may be acceptable.

He advised the state to start up exporting unconventional and high-technology goods to overcome such deficit.

He considered the growth rate of the gross domestic product (GDP) that ranges between 4 to 5 percent to be reasonable, but not sufficient as the target should float to 6 and 7 percent through controlling the population growth rate.

"To come to the targeted percentage will be at a cost and if it is achieved quickly, the risks will be higher," he said, but voiced confidence in the decision makers in Egypt, who have the experience, caution, and vision needed.

Although Dervish avoided referring to the Seattle Conference, he said that the international conditions at present requires the presence of international monetary foundations of high performance, the alternative is that a superpower, the US, imposes its solutions on the developing countries.

"The international order, if carried out in the right way, the impact of this superpower will dwindle in favor of other powers, such as the European Union, China and Japan," he said.

"The same logic is applicable to politics and military domains besides the economic," he added, considering Egypt a medium-sized power that can play an important role on that score.

"The Egyptian willpower is strong and the Egyptians can reach their set goals," he remarked. The World Bank Deputy Chief, further, spoke of the global economic crises, attributing it to the complete linkup of the Asian economies to the American dollar.

"This link was extremely dangerous, together with a number of mistakes made by some governments, banks, and private sector in Asian countries. The Asian economies suffered immensely when the foreign capital stopped from flowing into them," he said.