Sisi honors hard-working laborers as Egypt marks Labor Day

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hailed workers in all fields and urges more production in a statement on Sunday during a celebration organized by the Egyptian Trade Union Federation to mark the Labor Day.

"It is the day of every honorable Egyptian who works hard and does their best to reconstruct their nation and benefit the people," said the Egyptian president during a speech aired on the state TV.

"I remind you that our dear Egypt is expecting a lot from you to establish together the pillars of future for us and for the coming generations," he added.

During the celebration, Sisi honored 12 veteran hardworking members of labor unions and ordered to provide 100 million Egyptian pounds (5.5 million U.S. dollars) of labor's emergency fund from state-run "Long Live Egypt" fund.

Egypt has been suffering economic recession over the past few years as a result of political turmoil and relevant security issues that affected the country's tourism and foreign investment, which pressed the government to adopt a strict three-year economic reform program including austerity measures and energy subsidy cuts.

The Egyptian president urged the Egyptian workers, both in public and private sectors, to work harder and multiply production to support their nation in overcoming current economic challenges.

"Over the past few years, Egypt like most countries of the region suffered serious challenges with economic, social and political dimensions and I believe you know that hard and continuous work is the only way out of them," Sisi told the crowd during the celebration.

Egypt has been suffering a growing wave of terrorism since the military removed former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, which was followed by a massive security crackdown on his supporters, and blacklisted his Muslim Brotherhood group as a terrorist organization.

In the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula, terror attacks have left hundreds of police and military personnel dead and eventually expanded to churches in Cairo, leaving dozens of people dead and injured.

Most of the terrorist attacks nationwide has been claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State militia.

"Terrorism is on top of the challenges we are facing and Egypt was among the first states that warned the world against it," Sisi said during the ceremony.

Source : Xinhua