Egypt to establish 3 new provinces

Egypt will establish three new provinces and demarcate others including Cairo, Giza and Suez, Local Development Minister Adel Labib said on Wednesday.
The new provinces include Central Sinai which will be cut from the lands of North Sinai and South Sinai in eastern Egypt, Labib said in a press conference.
The two other provinces are Al-Alamin which will be established between Alexandria and Matrouh provinces in northern the country, and Wahat in the Western Desert.
The move will increase Egypt's provinces from 27 to 30, according to a plan included in President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi's electoral platform.
As presidential candidate, Sisi's program included the demarcation of the Egyptian provinces and reclamation of huge areas of lands to diversify chances for investment in the country that suffered from three years of turmoil following the ouster of long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak after mass protests in early 2011.
Sisi, who led the military removal of the Muslim Brotherhood- oriented president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, has recently given the go-ahead for digging a new 72-km canal alongside the Suez Canal waterway.
The new waterway is expected to help revive Egypt's ailing economy by increasing the ship traffic revenues, luring huge foreign investments and creating thousands of job opportunities.
Sisi's government has made a number of economic reform decisions including cutting subsidies on fuel and power, which has been met by public dissatisfaction due to the ongoing recurrent power outages despite the price hikes.