Egypt's Sisi inaugurates MOPCO fertiliser plant expansion

President Abdel Fattah El Sisi inaugurated the new expansion of MOPCO fertilizers factory in the petrochemicals complex at Dameitta governorate.

Sisi listened to a detailed explanation about the expansion of the two new factories.

Petroleum Minister Tarek el Mullah gave a brief presentation on the strategy of the petroleum sector and what has been achieved over the past two years.

He said the ministry's strategy is based on short and long-term plans that were drafted in coordination with the electricity ministry and other bodies concerned.

Among the important goals of this strategy is to secure the country's needs of petroleum and gas products, increase uses of natural gas and turn Egypt into a regional energy hub, the minister said.

Addressing the inauguration of the expansion of MOPCO fertilizers factory, president Sisi stressed that no hypothesis can be ruled out so far about what caused EgyptAir plane to crash into the Mediterranean on Thursday while on way from Paris to Cairo. President Sisi expressed condolences to the families of the victims.

He asked the gathering to observe a minute of silence in mourning of the victims.

"The way the State institutions handled the plane incident from the very beginning was good. Air and Naval units were sent to the area where the plane was believed to have crashed to look for it and save whatever could be saved. And search is still maintained," Sisi said.

The place where the plane was thought to have crashed is located 290km off Alexandria, he said. A crisis center was set up and the prime minister together with the aviation minister, who cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia, were available at the center from the beginning. The crisis was being handled in a very good way, he added.

Also, president Sisi asserted that the Petroleum Ministry has provided a submarine that could reach 3,000 meters under water in an attempt to retrieve the two black boxes.

Sisi thanked Egypt's Armed Forces, the search and rescue center and the naval forces for their role in recovering the plane's debris and bodies of the victims.

Furthermore, he voiced his appreciation of all countries that dispatched search aircraft or naval units to help Egypt's army personnel to locate the plane's crash site.

Egypt's Public Prosecution has launched an investigation in collaboration with the French government to find out the circumstances that led to the plane crash, Sisi said, adding that investigation into the incident may take time.

The people will be informed as soon as the results of the investigations are out, Sisi underlined. He warned of jumping into conclusion and confirming any scenario at this phase.

Sisi called on the bodies concerned to offer information to mass media to update the Egyptian people on the latest developments in the incident.

As for the new expansion of MOPCO, president Sisi said the factory's production capacity will double. This will contribute to providing more fertilizers to the domestic market and farmers as well as the external market.

Sisi pointed out that other projects will be inaugurated over the coming period, describing what is happening in Egypt as good.

Despite all pressures and attempts to halt Egypt's development march, Egyptians show that they are willing to overcome those pressures to achieve success, the Egyptian leader underlined.

He reassured residents of Damietta governorate by saying that the Furniture City will be opened in June 2017.