CAIRO — Egyptian Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Abdel Ati signed Nov. 8 a memorandum of understanding to organize some of the work of the Egyptian-Dutch Advisory Panel on Water Management, in the presence of Dutch Ambassador in Cairo Han-Maurits Schaapveld.

The advisory panel was established in 1976 by a number of Egyptian and Dutch ministers as well as water resources management and development experts from the two countries. The panel aims to assist the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in water management.

The new memorandum focuses on developing cooperation between both sides in several fields, namely wastewater treatment, and is part of Egypt’s efforts to expand and optimize sewage and agricultural wastewater treatment.

On Oct. 31, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the plan to inaugurate an agricultural wastewater desalination plant, the largest in the world, in the city of Bahr el-Baqar in Sharqiyah governorate, slated for June 2021. The project’s cost is estimated at 18 billion Egyptian pounds ($1.15 billion) and aims to treat 5.6 million cubic feet of water per day, and reclaim 456,000 feddans (473,256 acres) in the northern and central Sinai Peninsula.