When I see this rally of
Egypts youth who are teamed up together by a common pure love of their homeland, I
feel that tomorrow, God willing, will be better and that Egypts progress will be
sustained until it has attained its goals.
I have come today to talk to you, to talk to
Egypts youth, to me, is to look into prospects of a better future. This means a
reading of Egypt of the 21st century, Egypt of tomorrow that looms ahead through your
ambitious aspiration for a powerful homeland.
Through you, youngmen, prosperity grows, hopes
flourish, determination becomes stronger and a more auspicious atmosphere prevails you are
the even-invigorating spirit of a rising nation that currently seeks to restore its
standing in the sun building edifices for the present and the future.
The October generation, that fulfilled its great
responsibility, has saved our homeland and restored each inch of occupied territories,
rectified its path in order to release all individual and community potentialities and
sustained Egypt's stability. This generation has achieved for Egypt just peace thus
enabling it to dedicate its efforts to development and construction, to establish the
state of institutions, to open the doors to wider participation, to make the building of
the homeland a common responsibility of all the powers of the civil society with its
successive generations and individuals whatever their intellectual affiliations are.
We face a new world in which progress is contingent on
ability to fully understand the battles of this age. It is the duty of our youth to exert
their utmost effort join the march of human progress by developing their capabilities,
experiences, assimilating modern knowledge so as to be able to assume their role in the
march of progress and participate in shouldering the burdens of this homeland.
Undoubtedly, the responsibility of the coming
generation will not be confined to pursuit of construction, but also extends to the
requirement to cope with the current achievements, offering more opportunities for
innovation, entrenching technology into the society and enhancing Egypts
competitiveness on international markets through innovation, perfection and high quality.
Egypts youth have always been the focus of our attention since we first assumed
responsibility because they are the promising future of this nation, tomorrows power
and the core of progress. Throughout Egypts history, they have been its throbbing
heart, powerful support and the live conscience. They have constituted glorious battalions
in glorious battles for independence and dignity that aimed at restoring each inch of its
land. For the sake of our youth, we have rejected, since the beginning, any partial
solutions to our difficult problems, and we have discussed the philosophy of partial
reform. Instead, we have endeavoured to achieve a radical reform that tackles the roots of
problems, to relieve the coming generations of the burden of confronting this huge legacy
of accumulating problems that have remained unsolved for long years without any solution.
Right from the beginning, we have refrained from self-deception by continuing to depend on
governmental employment as a solution for the problem of unemployment. Governmental
employment does not give youth a real opportunity for self-realization nor does satisfy
their ambitions to their homeland. For the sake of Egypts youth, efforts have been
made on the road of sustainable development over three continuos five-year plans in order
to offer fruitful job opportunities that satisfy youth ambitious and benefit the country.
The current growth rates enable us to create some
500,000 job opportunities annually, and this covers the needs of new comers to the labour
market and absorbs a fairly good percentage of those who could not obtain an appropriate
job opportunity over the recent years. But the real challenge lies in the necessity of
sustaining development efforts development and increasing its rates to enable Egypt to
radically face the problem of unemployment. We have also endeavored to achieve
comprehensive educational reform so as to make education more compatible with a new era
that depends on the flow, efficient and circulation of information in the service of the
society. To this end, we have made significant studies, to be further reinforced
especially in the way of making wider use of computers in the educational curricula of the
elementary schools. We have also paid due attention to technical education and to
requalifying teachers to be more capable of absorbing modern knowledge. We have also
offered opportunities for students to develop this skills by enlarging school activities.
However, the forthcoming period requires an overall review of educational missions
prgrammes so as to provide for an abundant number of scholarships in specialization
related to information technology and its various application, it is also required to
expand of the scope of scientifically research and provide all safeguards for its freedom.
Brothers and Sons,
Egypts youth. We seek as one of our top priorities in the
up coming period ,to enhance the ability of the Egyptian universities, institutes and
educational institutions in general to provide modern education that promotes the
individual skills, builds up his personality, teaches him proper reasoning and enhances
his capability of dialogue, discussion and the acceptance of other opinions. on the same
plane ,as we seek to evolve techniques, concept and function of education, our aim is to
enable Egypts successive generations to cope with various challenges imposed by the
rapid pace and multiple facts of progress as well as the depth of information.
Unless we achieve all these goods as soon as possible,
we will find ourselves in a critical situation where we will remain dependent on the
intellectual and scientific innovations of others which we will have pay high price that
will constrain of our ability to keep pace with this era and to compete with others.
In spite of talk on globalisation requirements collapse
of walls of insularity lifting of geographical barriers as well as the smooth flow of
capital, information and thoughts, progress will be always monopolized by those who
possess knowledge and can use it correctly, and those who can retain their own fruits
exclusively for their own interests.
Therefore there will be no other way ,to escape this
hard fate but to foster highly skillful and talented Egyptian youth and give them access
to the realms of creativity and distinction and provide them with the chance to cope with
global scientific expertise and institutions.
Our responsibility as regards the future requires us to
exert our utmost effort so as to help our youth to enhance their capabilities for among
their ranks there will emerge the nations scientists, leaders, intellectuals and
experts in all fields. We have to search for talented and serious people in each site to
bring them under the lime light and continue to develop their talents and capabilities.
The progress of nations is now contingent on their ability to invest in their intellectual
assets that consist of talented, serious, innovative, creative people as well as
scientists and specialists in all scientific applications.
We all should contribute with effort, opinion and
consul on the part of the nations awakening requires the It also awareness of all
the forces and individuals of the society. requires every citizen to assume his
responsibility.
It should be stressed that Egypts youth are the
first to be called upon to participate in this responsibility. They must enlarge the scope
of their interest in their nations problems and they are called upon to provide
voluntary input in the service of their society. They are also called on to widely
participate in political affairs through public elections and those of unions,
organisations, associations and syndicates to which they affiliate this participation can
make such organization orient to the service of society and the entirety of their members
rather than a limted minority that fulsely claims the right to speak on behalf of the
masses.
In the forthcoming period, we will not hesitate to make
such changes or reforms that enhance the participation of citizens in public life without
detriment to the country's supreme interests at this critical stage of our contemporary
history. Comperhensive awakening can be achieved through the serious participation of
every man and woman, through the efforts of all the civil society institutions besides
consistent domestic and foreign policies of the state. The ultimate objective of any
successful foreign policy is to promote the standing of the nation, protect the its
interests and sreve the gools of the masses.
Brothers and Sons
I know the magnitude of the suffering of considerable numbers of youth
who search for a suitable house despite the efforts exerted by the government and both the
private and civil community sectors to provide thousands of housing units that are
distributed among youth under strict terms that guarantee equitable distribution. But I
expect that the coming period will require a more in-depth and comprehensive vision that
enables every youth to obtain a suitable housing unit by involving existing financial
institutions and newly introduced financial instruments as an effective player in funding
the construction of youth housing units. In this connection such units are to be offered
for ownership by youngmen, to be repaid with reasonabie interest on long-term instalments
within a new legal framework that preserves the funds of those institutions and enables
them to redouble their activity in this field, while youngmen should regulary repay these
soft loans.
On the other hand, Egypt needs tens of thousands of
small and medium-size enterprises run by rising young who can, through their educational
and professional qualifications, impart a modern touch to such activities, develop their
methods and raise their efficiency thus providing chances for steady success.
As small and medium-sized enterprises have their own
dynamics and requirements that differ from those of large enterprises, many developing
countries and even developed have mobilized a considerable part of their efforts for
upgrading and enhancing professional and innovative capability, of such entities by
encouraging youth to participate in their various fields. In Egypt, we have marvelous
examples of successful youth who have managed to develop their projects, firmly establish
them in the local market and achieve good reputation that has enabled them to increasingly
expand their activities. But the main problem of small and medium-size enterprises in
Egypt is that they suffer from some procedures and regulations that place dozens of
obstacles before their establishment.
In the coming period, we have to endeavor to remove
such obstacles that drain the effort and time of those who run such projects. We also
should render technical assistance and expertise to successful enterprises and projects
through competent governmental bodies. Egypt highly appreciates its rising and faithful
youth, its strong support and live conscience. They have always proved to be dedicated
patriots who never hesitated to answer the call of duty.
It was Egypts youth that turned the incident of
the exile of national leader Sad Zaghloul into the 1919 revolution that instilled
new life into Egypt, ushering it into the era of development. They also supported the 1952
Revolution, engaged in Egypts battles and wars in defense of its dignity and pride,
and made possible the glorious crossing in October 1973.
During the last two decades, They assumed responsiblity
for the most significant transformation in Egypts history by contributing to the
achievement of the major economic transformations resulting in changing the course of
national economy and overall renovation of a deterioting infrastructure. They also those
participated in making a great leap that has made the private sector at present contribute
more than 60% of the gross domestic.
Over the past two decades, we have increasingly forged
a new road amid the hardships, accumulations and problems of the past, surmounting
obstacles, accomplishing impossibie mission and building a strong present that opens up
brighter prospects of the future for a nation worthy of a better standing in our world.
Our target has been to enable Egypt to restore its role and stature, build a strong
homeland enjoying security, peace, stability, progressing and depending on the power of
its successive generations. We have always motivated by trust in Allah and in the ability
of this glorious people to work miracles and the ability of its successive generations to
sustainprogress and to keep the national flag up hoisted high and to build the pillars of
glory and life, and sacrifice their souls for the security and stability of the country.
Egypts youth.
You are our hope and your are our arm that will sustain the
process of building and modernizing Egypt untill we have attained our targets, god
willing, as regards the building of a strong homeland and a modern institutionalized state
based on the participation of all categories, on top of which are youth.
I pray Allah Almighty to preserve Egypt as a strong
and stable homeland enjoying welfare, sustaining justice, resisting aggression and
injustice, fearing nothing in defense of right.