Mansoura University President Participates in the First Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Presidential Initiative "Alliance and Development", Chaired by the Minister of Higher Education

Prof. Cherif Youssef Khater, President of Mansoura University, participated in the first meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Presidential Initiative "Alliance and Development", which was held under the chairmanship of Prof. Ayman Ashour, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and attended by members of the Board of Trustees from academics, industrialists, representatives of government agencies, public figures and leaders of the Ministry.

At the beginning of the meeting, the Minister indicated that this meeting is the result of all efforts to implement the initiative, under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, since its launch, and is also receiving continuous follow-up from the political leadership for all steps of its implementation, in appreciation of the great importance of the initiative, and keenness to achieve its vision of achieving a great development in the various geographical regions of Egypt by creating integration of efforts between the three main elements of the alliance "the university, industry and the state".

According to a statement by the Ministry of Higher Education, the Minister reviewed the steps to start the initiative until the launch of the seven regional alliances, as part of the National Strategy for Higher Education and Scientific Research that was launched in March 2023, appreciating the great efforts made by the participating parties from universities, industrial and governmental entities.

Prof. Ashour welcomed the council members from academics, industrialists, businessmen and public figures for joining the council and their belief in effective participation in serving the community and contributing a vital role in achieving development goals, and integration between different parties to unify energies, which is the main goal of the initiative. He added that the initiative is distinguished by being the first of its kind to operate at the level of the seven geographical regions in Egypt, and unifying the resources and capabilities of each geographical region to work on facing the developmental and societal challenges facing this region, with a specific focus on the fields of; agriculture, industry and mining, tourism, trade and logistics services, construction, health, communications and information technology, noting that the work on the ground contributed greatly to bridging the gap between the academic programs offered by the university, scientific research and the needs of industry to meet the expectations of society and the labor market.

The Minister stressed the Ministry's orientation towards internationalizing the "Alliance and Development" initiative by expanding international partnerships with a number of countries, including the United States of America and France, and benefiting from the experience of these countries in linking academia with industry, diversifying international partners from foreign universities and involving them in alliances to obtain the greatest possible benefit in implementing alliance projects.

The Minister also referred to the numerous visits that took place during the past period within all geographical regions included in the initiative to identify priorities and determine goals until reaching this stage by announcing the formation of the Board of Trustees, indicating that the role of the Board is to provide strategic guidance and governance through general supervision of achieving the initiative's goals in a way that ensures the integration of efforts and the activation of partnerships between the public and private sectors and the optimal use of resources, and reviewing performance reports and planning for the next stage. He added that that the announcement of the Board of Trustees is a strong push to activate the procedures for implementing the initiative and exploiting the large funding estimated at one billion pounds in its first phase, pointing out the initiative’s interest in financing projects that support the knowledge economy, sustainable development goals, and implementing the goals of the tripartite partnership between the university, industry, and the state, explaining the start of procedures for establishing regional units within the alliances to implement the projects.

The meeting included a presentation on the initiative since its launch, the formation of the Board of Trustees, and the presentation addressed the areas of development that the initiative focuses on and its objectives, in addition to a review of the most important projects in which it participated and succeeded in implementing in cooperation between universities, industry and government, including; the Egyptian Universities Land Project, which aims to be the first business valley for agricultural technology and sciences in the Upper Egypt region, in addition to a number of sub-initiatives derived from the initiative, including; the "Development Bridges Initiative", and models of successful research outputs, including; the production of an electric car through the participation of engineering faculties at Egyptian universities.

In a presentation, Prof. Hossam Othman, Deputy Minister for Innovation and Scientific Research, explained the initiative's work in employing scientific research to serve the needs of industry, and reaching actual products that contribute to reducing the import bill, supporting the national economy, and integrating innovation with the needs of comprehensive development.

Dr. Adel Abdel Ghaffar, the media advisor and official spokesperson for the ministry, stated that the attendees discussed during the meeting ways to activate the executive procedures of the initiative and priority projects, and expand partnerships within each region to maximize the results of innovators. They also thanked the minister for his support for this initiative since its launch, following up on all necessary efforts to implement it, and launching executive units for alliances at the regional level. He added that the meeting discussed announcing a major competition at the beginning of next year for the projects that will be selected, discussing the mechanisms of the competition, and setting criteria for judging the selected projects to select the best of them.

The meeting was attended by: Prof. Hossam Othman, Deputy Minister for Innovation and Scientific Research, Prof. Mustafa Refaat, Secretary of the Supreme Council of Universities, and the presidents of the universities leading the seven regional alliances: Prof. Mohamed Sami Abdel Sadek, President of Cairo University (representing the Greater Cairo Region), Prof. Abdel Aziz Qansouh, President of Alexandria University (representing the Northern Region), Prof. Cherif Khater, President of Mansoura University (representing the Delta Region), Prof. Essam Farahat, President of Minya University (representing the North Upper Egypt Region), Prof. Hassani El-Naamani, President of Sohag University (representing the Central Upper Egypt Region), Prof. Ahmed El-Menshawy, President of Assiut University (representing the South Upper Egypt Region), and Prof. Nasser Mandour, President of Suez Canal University (representing the Suez Canal and Sinai Region).

Public figures include: Prof. Mohamed Awad Tag El-Din, Advisor to the President of the Republic for Health and Prevention Affairs, Eng. Farida Khamis, Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the British University and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oriental Weavers Group, journalist Osama Kamal, and Mr. Tarek Asaad, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures.

Representatives of government agencies include: Major General Sherif Saleh, Chairman of the Upper Egypt Development Authority, Mr. Ahmed El-Wakil, Chairman of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, Eng. Alaa El-Sakati, Chairman of the Union of Medium-Sized Enterprise Investors, and Dr. Ahmed Samir Ammar, representing the Ports Company.

From industry: Eng. Abed Ezz El-Regal, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Abu Qir Pharmaceuticals, Eng. Ayman Saleh, Head of the Central Administration of the Free Investment Zone in Ismailia, and Eng. Mustafa El-Bagoury, CEO of Siemens Egypt.

Among the heads of the research bodies: Prof. Walaa Sheta, CEO of the Science, Technology and Innovation Funding Authority, Prof. Gina El-Feki, Acting President of the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, and Prof. Hani Ayad, Executive Director of the Innovators and Geniuses Care Fund.

And the Ministry’s leaders: Prof. Ayman Farid, Assistant Minister for Strategic Planning, Training and Rehabilitation for the Labor Market, Prof. Amr Allam, Permanent Undersecretary of the Ministry and Assistant Minister for Institutional Development, Prof. Adel Abdel Ghaffar, Media Advisor and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry, and Mr. Mohamed Ghanem, Head of the Central Administration of the Minister’s Office.

It is worth noting that the Alliance and Development Initiative is an embodiment of what it includes in terms of alliances at the academic, scientific, research and industrial levels. The initiative’s work includes directing part of the financial support in education and scientific research to support the idea of alliances for integration at more than one level, and includes 7 regional alliances: (Greater Cairo Region, Northern Alexandria Region, Delta Region, Canal and Sinai Region, Central Upper Egypt Region, Northern Upper Egypt Region, and Southern Upper Egypt Region).