Egypt aims to benefit from China expertise in environmental issues: minister

Photo taken on March 2, 2015 shows a general view of the opening ceremony of the 15th session of The African Ministerial Conference On The Environment (AMCEN) held in Cairo, Egypt. The week-long conference kicked off on Monday will deliberate on how to manage and sustainably use natural resources while taking into consideration the region's biodiversity and ecosystems. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa)

Egypt seeks to benefit from the highly-advanced Chinese expertise in various environmental issues, Egyptian Environment Minister Khaled Fahmy told Xinhua in an interview on Monday.

"We aim to benefit from the Chinese technology in monitoring and implementing the regulations of using coal as a source of energy," the minister said, as the activities of the 15th African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) kicked off in Cairo.

"We want to train our youth and the civil society organizations on the Chinese technology to take part in the monitoring role," Khaled Fahmy added.

The Egyptian capital city Cairo is currently hosting the AMCEN from March 2 to 6 with the participation of senior environment officials and prominent experts of some 50 states, besides Chinese, Indian and French delegations.

"The Egyptian Environment Ministry has invited the Chinese environment minister as a guest of honor to attend the conference due to China's weight in Africa and its influence in climate change talks, in the United Nations, in technological knowledge," Fahmy told Xinhua, adding that China has a desire to invest and take part in the development of African states.

With regards to Egypt's economic summit that will be held later in March to offer foreign investment opportunities in the country, the minister said the summit will offer a big project on agricultural waste management, including problematic rice straw. "We hope China will have a role in that," he said.

Fahmy revealed that the huge prospect project on treatment of agricultural wastes was "very huge." And it would cost 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, provide 21,000 job opportunities for youth and produce fodder, fertilizers and energy sources.

Egypt has been suffering from power shortages over the past few years and the country is attempting to use coal as an alternative source of power generation, which has raised some environmental concerns.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi paid a visit to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Beijing where the two leaders decided to raise their strategic partnership to a higher level.

"The initial agreements signed during Sisi's visit to Beijing include the establishment of coal-fired power stations using the best technologies in burning coal for power generation," Fahmy said.

The Egyptian minister stressed that there is a protocol of cooperation between Egypt and China, expressing hope that it would be developed in the best interest of the Egyptian and the Chinese peoples.

China has been engaged in environmental development in Africa over the past ten years and it has constant cooperation with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a main participant organization in the AMCEN.

A new tripartite UNEP-China-Africa Cooperation Programme on Environment has recently been completed to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on Africa through technological support, capacity building and expertise exchange with Chinese experts.

The AMCEN was first held in Cairo in 1985 with the purpose of enhancing cooperation among African governments in environment-related issues and provide economic, technical and scientific activities to address environmental concerns in the continent.

"The presidency of the AMCEN is not limited to the activities held for a few days. Being in charge of this session, Egypt will remain concerned with the environmental problems in Africa and will represent the continent in relevant international meetings for the coming two years," the minister said.

On Wednesday, the main ministerial meeting of African environment ministers will be held with the participation of a Chinese high-level delegation.

"The ministers will discuss a number of key issues related to environment and sustainable development including biodiversity issues, activating environmental regulations, green economy and the future of environment in Africa," the Egyptian environment minister concluded.