The armed forces have a constitutional mission to protect the Egyptian state from falling and to maintain its stability, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi said on Wednesday. Al-Sisi added during an inauguration ceremony of several animal production complexes in Faiyum that the army takes part in the national projects because "it is a matter of national security." Faiyum's project aims to narrow the food gap in Egypt and secure animal protein at appropriate prices. It includes livestock farms, integrated modern automatic slaughterhouses, and factories for various dairy products. Al-Sisi said that the aim of such projects was to provide citizens with job opportunities, adding that 3000 greenhouses were built in the governates of Beni Suef and Minya. Al-Sisi said that the public sector had an issue with the administration of projects, not with the implementation of them, adding that over the years, the public has developed a herd mentality that public money and installations are “available” for theft (indicating the possibility of corruption and embezzlement.) Al-Sisi was commenting on the remarks of the Minister of Agriculture Mohamed Al–Qusayr who said that 51 livestock farms are not working now and in need of development and upgrading. Al-Sisi said that the government could provide funds to reoperate those farms. In the meantime, Al-Sisi said that the government aims to reoperate and upgrade all Egyptian lakes, but the development will cost exorbitant money. Al-Sisi called for upgrading the local breeds of livestock to increase dairy and meat production. Furthermore, he also remarked that the companies of the armed forces will be listed on the stock exchange to allow all citizens to benefit from them, noting that "the army's implementation of national projects does not aim at economic obsession, but rather to achieve balance." Director of the National Services Projects Organisation (NSPO) Mostafa Amin said that the aim of Faiyum's project was to offer animal protein with good quality and prices, adding that such projects contribute to decreasing imported meat, poultry, and dairy. Amin said that the NSPO is working on establishing nine complexes for 54 livestock for dairy production. The completion of this project will be in October 2020. Amin added that the first stage of the project will be inaugurated by 2020, adding that it targets 200,000 livestock at the cost of EGP 20bn. Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouly, Speaker of Parliament Ali Abdel-Al, and Minister of Defence Mohamed Zaki attended the ceremony. The project aims to achieve the best benefit from available capacities throughout the integration of animal and agricultural production projects.
