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It's no secret that FEPS
has always greatly contributed in different fields, on top of them is
the continuous support to policymakers and sustainable development
partners. Therefore, in an attempt to achieve the vision of community
development, this year's annual faculty conference of was held under the
title "The New Egyptian State and Sustainable Development: Opportunities
and Challenges". Headed by Prof. Mahmoud Al-Saeed, the conference took
at the Intercontinental Citystars Hotel in Nasr City during the period
June 27 to June 29. The conference was launched under the auspices of
the faculty's development partners, which are the National Bank of
Egypt, the National Bank of Kuwait, the Economic Governance Project of
the USAID and UNICEF.
The conference was
opened by the President of Cairo University, Prof. Muhammad Othman Al-Khosht,
as it was held under his auspices, and coordinated by Prof. Dr. Mamdouh
Ismail - Vice Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development
Affairs. The scientific committee of the conference included esteemed
professors from different fields, who were: Prof. Hanan Muhammad Ali,
Prof. Najwa Sammak, Prof.Dr. Sami Al-Sayed, Prof. Abdel Nasser Saad,
Prof. Shadia Fathy, Prof. Muhammad Darwish, Prof. Kamal Sami, Prof.
Ahmed Youssef, Prof. Amal Suleiman, Prof. Dr. Mayada Aref, in addition
to the Secretary of the Conference, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Al-Arabi, Prof.
Mahmoud Al-Saeed and Prof. Mamdouh Ismail.
Adding up, a
conference with such a vital scientific value was definitely honoured
with the presence of the most important public figures and distinguished
professors, such as Prof. Dr. Hala Helmy Al-Saeed - Minister of Planning
and Economic Development, and Ms. Leslie Reid - Director of the USAID
Mission, who both participated in the opening session. A number of
ministers, presidents and deputies also attended and participated in the
conference's sessions, including Mr. Muhammad Abu Al-Ainin, the deputy
of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dr. Ashraf Sobhi - Minister of
Youth and Sports, Prof. Dr. Yasmine Fouad - Minister of Environment, Mr.
Ahmed Al-Maslamani - former advisor to the President of the Republic,
Ambassador/ Mohamed Al-Orabi, former Egyptian Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Dr. Ayman Mokhtar - Governor of Dakahlia, Dr. Yasser Sherif -
Environmental Affairs Expert and Managing Director of Environics, Prof.
Amira Tawadros - Director of the Demographic Center in Cairo, Dr. Salwa
Tabbala - Economic Governance Officer at the US Agency for International
Development and Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin - United Nations Special
Envoy for the 2030 Finance Agenda and Climate Pioneer for the Egyptian
Presidency.
The conference's first
day included 3 sessions and the first-round table. Under the title
"Institutional reform and investment in people as pillars of the new
state", the first session, chaired by Prof. Khaled Zakaria Amin -
Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences and Head of
the Centre for Macroeconomic Policies at the Institute of National
Planning - focused on building the new Egyptian state, and that's
through papers research presented by Prof. Esraa Adel Al-Husseini and
Prof. Asmaa Ezzat and Aqab. Prof. Jannat Al Samalouti - Emeritus
Professor of Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Political
Sciences - and Prof. Dr. Adela Ragab - Director of the Center for
Economic and Financial Research and Studies- discussed and commented
upon the presented papers. On another level, the second session
discussed the structural transformation of the Egyptian economy and its
future with the speakers Prof. Omnia Helmy and Prof. Mona Al-Jarf, and
with the commentary of Prof. Heba Nassar - Emeritus Professor of
Economics at the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences - and Prof.
Dr. Najwa Sammak - Professor of Economics, and Vice Dean of the Faculty
of Economics for Graduate Studies and Research - all under the
supervision of the Committee Chair Prof. Dr. Samiha Fawzy - Emeritus
Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, and the
former Minister of Trade and Industry. As for the third session, it
focused on the role of youth in the new Egyptian state, headed by Prof.
Dr. / Ali El-Din Hilal - full-time professor of political sciences, and
former Minister of Youth. Mr. Ahmed Al-Maslamani's commented and
discussed the research of both Dr. Sahar Masoud and Dr. Asma Mustafa,
the session's speakers. Finally, the first day ended with a round table
on youth governance and empowerment, with the participation of Mr. Dr.
Ashraf Sobhi, Prof. Muhammad Abu Al-Ainin, Prof. Mahmoud Al-Saeed, Dr.
Omar Abdullah - Vice President of the Economic Governance Project - and
Prof. Wiam Al-Leithi - Youth and Youth Program Officer at UNICEF.
The second day was
opened with its first session under the chairmanship of Prof. Dr. Ahmed
Youssef - Emeritus Professor of Political Sciences and former Director
of the Institute of Arab Research and Studies - revolving around the
analysis of Egyptian national security and foreign policy, with
commentary from Ambassador Mohamed Al-Orabi and Prof. Dr. Shadia Fathi -
Head of the Department of Political Science. That session included Prof.
Dr. Engy Mahdi, Dr. Dalia Rushdy, Dr. Khaled Muhammad Ali and Dr. Narmin
Tawfiq as speakers. Moving on, presented by Dr. Ayman Elbagoury, Dr.
Esraa Sami, Dr. Maryam Waheed and Mr. Hossam Al-Abbasi, Local Governance
and the New State was the topic for the second session; it was carried
out through an analysis of the administrative challenges for the
development of the management of new cities, women's representation in
Egyptian local councils and the educational empowerment of Egyptian
university students. This session was chaired by Prof. Dr. Saleh
Al-Sheikh - Head of the Central Agency for Organization and
Administration - and Dr. Ayman Mukhtar commented on it. As for the round
table for the second day, it was under the title "The Global Economic
Crisis and Its Effects on the Egyptian State", in which: Prof. Dr.
Mahmoud Al-Saeed, Prof. Gouda Abdel-Khalek, Emeritus Professor of
Economics, and former Minister of Social Solidarity, Prof. Dr. Fakhri
El-Feki - Head of the Planning and Budget Committee in the House of
Representatives, Prof. Hussain Abdel Aziz - Emeritus Professor in the
Statistics Department at the College, and Mr. Hani Tawfiq - Former
President of the Egyptian and Arab Associations for Direct Investment-
all participated in discussing its topic.
The third and last day
of the conference started with a session on institutional development
and digital transformation in the new state under the chairmanship of
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Darwish - Head of the Department of Public
Administration at FEPS. That session included the speakers, Prof. Khaled
Barakat, Prof. Mohamed Elaraby and Dr. Iman Al-Jazzar, and received
commentaries from Prof. Dr. Amira Tawadros and Dr. Salwa Tabbala. As for
the second session, which was chaired by Prof. Alia Al-Mahdi - Emeritus
Professor of Economics and former Dean of the Faculty of Economics and
Political Sciences - it focused on the role of conscious citizenship in
sustainable development through previous research papers by speakers
Prof. Dr. Ahmed Abdel Hafez and Prof. Dr. Amal Hassan. Both Prof. Sami
Al-Sayed - Head of the Department of Economics and Prof. Amani Masoud -
Professor of Political Sciences - Cairo University- provided commentary
for that session. Finally, the last round table of the conference
discussed one of the most pressing issues, namely climate change and
sustainable development, with the participation of Prof. Mahmoud Al-Saeed,
Prof. Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Prof. Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin and Dr. Yasser
Sharif.
This year's conference
witnessed 10 sessions and round tables, each of which exhibited vital
problems and issued recommendations that can be implemented. All the
attendees, including students, professors and public figures, praised
the resounding success of the conference. Once again, the faculty was
able to organize a great conference to the fullest, and as always, it
took over the throne of distinction.
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