Tahya Misr to give EGP100 mln to support struggling Egyptian workers

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi announced on Thursday at a Labour Day celebration that EGP 100 million from the Long Live Egypt Fund (Tahya Misr) would be allocated to the manpower ministry’s emergency fund in order to support workers in ailing sectors such as tourism.

El-Sisi also stressed the importance of Egypt establishing a competitive industrial base that would enable the country to increase exports to African and global markets.
"We want to hold high the slogan of 'made in Egypt' everywhere around the world," El-Sisi told trade union leaders at an event organised by the Egyptian Federation of Trade Unions at Masa hotel in Cairo.

Egypt’s tourism sector, which employs around 4 million people, has taken a heavy hit since the deadly October 2015 crash of Russian plane in Sinai, which killed 224 people. The IS group claimed responsibilty for downing the plane. The Egyptian government has not yet released its final findings report.

The sector saw some revenues of $500 million in the first quarter of 2016, down from $1.5 billion a year earlier.

The charitable fund Long Live Egypt was established by El-Sisi in 2014 with the aim of supporting Egypt's economy and development, and is run by a committee he appointed.

The president had announced in February that the fund has raised around EGP 4.7 billion since its establishment.