SINAI: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

UNCLAS CAIRO 002836 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ELA, NEA/RA USAID FOR ANE/MEA MCCLOUD AND DUNN USTR FOR SAUMS TREASURY FOR MATHIASON AND HIRSON COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/ANESA/OBERG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EAID ETRD EG SUBJECT: SINAI: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly. REF: CAIRO 673 -------------- Summary and Introduction -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Emboffs visited El Arish, capital of North Sinai governorate, September 12, to discuss economic development with local business leaders. Members of the North Sinai Businessmen's Association (NSBA) and the Al-Fawakhreya Association for Economic Development told Emboffs that the local economy needs more financing for SMEs, management capacity building for young entrepreneurs and business leaders, and training programs to improve the employment prospects of the local population. A lack of legitimate economic opportunities is contributing to smuggling into Gaza and leaving unemployed youth more vulnerable to recruitment by extremists, they claimed. The associations include representatives from northern Sinai in both houses of Egypt's parliament, several university professors, and directors of a number of large firms. NSBA Chairman Osama El Kassas runs a microfinance NGO receiving funding from USAID. -------------- Development Potential -------------- ¶2. (U) NSBA members identified agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism as areas ripe for development in northern Sinai. Unlike the mountainous and rocky terrain in southern Sinai, northern Sinai is relatively flat and closer to sea level, with sandy soil perfect for agriculture, according to Dr. Ali Ibrahim El Kassas, Professor of Agricultural Science at Suez University and brother of Osama El Kassas. Current agricultural activity is mainly subsistence farming by local Bedouin tribes. With more investment in irrigation infrastructure, however, El Kassas believes the northern Sinai desert could become a center for agribusiness. ¶3. (U) One illustrative example is an olive grove and olive processing factory owned by Abdel Hamid Selmy, a Shura Council member and member of the Al-Fawakhreya Association for Economic Development in el-Arish. The farm uses water from aquifers, which although salty, is suitable for olives trees. The processing factory produces olive oil that is sold domestically and partially pickled whole olives, which are exported to Israel for further processing and export to Europe. Orabi told Emboffs he would like to do the full processing in Egypt and export to Europe directly, but lacks the capital needed to expand the operation. ¶4. (SBU) According to El Kassas, the salty water produced by aquifers in Sinai limits the variety of crops that can be grown. This would change dramatically with completion of the "Peace Canal," an infrastructure project begun in the 1990s to bring water from the Nile to northern Sinai. The project was never completed, and views differ significantly as to the reason. Speaking at a USAID conference on Sinai development on September 11, former governor of North Sinai, Mounir Shash, said he believed the GOE did not complete the project because neither Israel nor the U.S. wants Sinai developed for security reasons. Osama El Kassas told emboffs, however, that he believes the project ran out of funding, as the GOE focuses most of its agricultural development spending on the Toshka land reclamation project in Upper Egypt, near Lake Nasser. Regardless of the cause, the GOE has given no indication of intention to complete the canal. ¶5. (U) In addition to its agricultural potential, NSBA members believe the Sinai's vast mineral wealth could form the basis for industrial development in the region. Sand and rock, two major inputs for cement production, are readily available in large quantities. (Comment: It is somewhat ironic that with abundant sand and rock in Sinai, and throughout the country, Egypt is currently experiencing a cement shortage. A booming construction sector, coupled with high international prices, led the GOE to impose fees on cement exports in early 2007 (reftel),in a move to control rising domestic cement prices). Emboffs visited one enterprise taking advantage of Sinai's mineral wealth, a marble factory owned by another member of the Al-Fawakhreya Association for Economic Development. The factory processes large marble slabs extracted from nearby mountains. The slabs are cut into sheets that are then polished and re-cut into tiles for building construction. ¶6. (U) In the area of tourism, former Governor Shash told the USAID conference that this sector has the greatest potential, and is the least developed, of all sectors in northern Sinai. El Arish is home to the single beach resort on the northern Sinai coast, a modest 100 room hotel with limited services. The Sinai's Mediterranean beaches are arguably as attractive as those on Egypt's northern coast near Alexandria, which is rapidly becoming overdeveloped. Moreover, the Sinai offers convenient camping and desert trekking, which is not readily available on the Alexandria coast. The downside is the greater distance to the northern Sinai beaches from Cairo. While Cairenes drive 2-3 hours to the Alexandria coast, the northern Sinai is a 4-5 hour drive from Cairo. The NSBA members echoed Shash's views, but Osama El Kassas believes Shash is to blame, as he never developed a coherent tourism promotion policy while in the governor's office. -------------- Unemployment and Security -------------- ¶7. (U) NSBA members pointed out that economic development in Sinai would have larger benefits for Egypt, not just for Sinai residents. Manufacturing could be moved out of the crowded, polluted Nile valley and take advantage not only of Sinai's resources, but also its large population of unemployed youth. Former Governor Shash noted in his discussion at USAID that unemployment is worse in northern Sinai, which has a population of approximately 300,000, than in southern Sinai, with a population of around 10,000. He estimated unemployment at 25-30%, more than double the official nationwide figure of approximately 10%. ¶8. (SBU) Shash claimed that the government in Cairo ignored the development needs of the Sinai until the Taba, Sharm el Sheikh and Dahab bombings of recent years underscored the need to address Sinai residents' concerns. El Kassas agreed with this assessment, claiming that militants recruit from among the unemployed youth of northern Sinai. Moreover, lack of economic opportunity drives many residents of the region into the profitable smuggling trade on the Egypt/Gaza border. Not only arms and ammunition are smuggled through tunnels at the border, but also commercial goods, according to El Kassas. Gaza's economy would not survive, El Kassas believes, without smuggling. ¶9. (U) According to Shash, Bedouins have traditionally fought over land, with the strongest tribe enforcing "ownership." The GOE made no effort to intervene in these struggles until after the bombings in Sinai. In the last year the GOE started imposing land ownership regulations in Sinai, and granting property deeds to Bedouin tribe members. Shash praised the industriousness of the Bedouins, noting that despite land disputes, and with no assistance from the central government, the Bedouins more than doubled the cultivated land in Sinai in the last ten years. Most of the cultivation is still subsistence farming, but Shash used the example to illustrate how rapidly agriculture could expand with supportive policies from the GOE. -------------- U.S. Assistance in Sinai -------------- ¶10. (SBU) USAID is planning a community development project in north and central Sinai, worth $10 million over the next four years (2008 - 2011). The project will focus on provision of water, education, health care, and development of employment and business opportunities. This project responds to the needs of many of Sinai's low income communities which lack infrastructure, basic services and employment opportunities. (Comment: Although the USAID project is not a specific response to the problems in Sinai highlighted by bombings in tourist resort over the past few years, the program will provide a positive alternative to the negative messages used to recruit Sinai residents into militant activity). RICCIARDONE