Sisi stresses state attention to science as pillar for development

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi stressed on Sunday the significance of science as the main pillar for comprehensive development and production, noting that his government increased spending on scientific research by 47 per cent over the past three years.

"Science is the most influential way to achieve sustainable economic growth," said the Egyptian president during a ceremony in Cairo marking the country's national Science Day.

Sisi also announced the establishment of a fund by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research to sponsor scientists, innovators and creative researchers, which will be co-financed by the government and the private sector.

The Egyptian president also honoured a number of leading scholars, researchers and students during the ceremony, urging for creative researches in the fields of health, agriculture, food, petrochemicals, space, alternative energy, communication and information technology.

Egyptian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar said during the ceremony that Egypt ranked 35th out of 233 countries in the amount of internationally published scientific researches in 2017 according to SCImago Journal & Country Rank.

--IANS

ahm/