Even today – several decades after their passing –
historians are debating whether Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a good President
or a bad one; whether Harry Truman was a good President or a bad one. Now
imagine having to pass judgment on someone like Mohamed Morsi who is still
alive, and still President of Egypt where he has been for a period of only a
few months.
Guessing would not be a wise thing to do, of course, but
given that the man has come to office after a relatively quiet revolution, an
assessment can still be attempted – not to pass judgment on the performance of
a President – but to compare what he accomplished in the time that he has been
in office; and compare that to what was expected. To be blunt, what some
people expected of him was so unrealistic, it sounded like asking for miracles.
They wanted to see the start of a move to lift the country up to the level of a
modern industrial state but were disappointed to learn it may take some time
before this can be realized.
If not miracles, what did the President accomplish in the
period that he has been in office? Well, he put together a plan that will
require the cooperation of companies in the private and public sectors to fully
implement. In addition, these companies will team up with international
organizations to secure the financing, acquire the know-how and if necessary,
sign up foreign talent, to pull off the massive projects envisioned in the
plan. Mr. Morsi estimated that it may require as much as 200 billion dollars in
foreign currencies, and trillions more in the local currency (the Egyptian
pound) to complete the project. And he started to travel around the world to
discuss the plan with foreign governments, and pitch it to the organizations
that may decide to participate.
Thus, while the criticism piled up by those who were eager
to see a physical proof that something was done to realize the dream, and while
the short term tacticians were expressing skepticism about the President's
ability to pull it off, he was doing what was necessary to do just that. To his
credit, he persevered even when the eager ones and the skeptics could not
understand that before seeing the implementation of a plan, there had to be a
period of time during which the conception, formulation and preparation are
done quietly; and done aside from the staring eyes of onlookers.
Slowly but surely, details of the plan did surface, and they
include the following:
First, there is the development of the Suez Canal Zone. This
would be the Northern part of the Western shore of the Canal. The idea is to
erect industrial zones where some privileges will be extended to international
companies that will want to locate their plants in Egypt and export their products to
the world. They will use the port of Port Said on the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe
and North America, or use the port of Suez on the Red Sea to reach Eastern Africa and Asia .
Second, there is the development of the Sinai. This would be
the central part of the peninsula that forms the Eastern
shore of the Canal. The discovery of quarries, coal, base metal
deposits and aquifers made it clear that the Sinai was good not only for its
resort regions near the seashores but also for other riches away from there.
Thus, mining and agriculture are envisaged for that region.
Third, to take advantage of Egypt 's position on the world map,
several transportation projects are envisaged in the Morsi plan. Whereas the
Sumed (Suez-Mediterranean) pipeline running parallel to the Canal transports
crude oil from South to North, it will be doubled to transport it from North to
South as well. In addition, a parallel railway track and a highway will be
constructed, all of which will make the worldwide North-South and East-West
traffic in goods an important feature of Egypt 's economy.
Fourth, the opening of new areas to prospect for metals and
minerals. Hydrocarbons, base and precious metals have already been discovered
almost throughout the landmass of Egypt as well as its territorial
waters, but a number of areas have not yet been opened for prospecting. They
will soon be to local and international companies in the Eastern and Western Deserts ,
Upper Egypt, the Delta, The Gulf of Suez and the Mediterranean
Sea .
Fifth, in addition to becoming a hub of transportation, the
plan envisages turning the country into a hub of energy. To this end, Egypt
will rely not only on its hydrocarbon deposits but will import as much as it
can from the neighboring states, refine it and manufacture petrochemical
products of all sorts for local consumption and for export. In addition, the
production of energy from wind, solar and nuclear sources will be developed and
deployed to serve Egypt and Europe .
Sixth, when you are a hub for transportation and energy, you
also strive to become a hub for communication. To this end, Egypt is
already well advanced in the research, development and manufacture of high-tech
products. It now has two centers modeled after America 's
famous “Silicon Valley ,” and has a third
center under construction. Its universities and technical colleges graduate a
large number of engineers who – while still in school – enter competitions run
by such institutions as NASA, Microsoft and IBM to come ahead of contestants
from around the world and have their projects adopted or win prizes. Thus,
cable, fiber optics and microwave communication will come into Egypt from
everywhere, and will be distributed from there to everywhere in the world.
Seventh, when you will have all this going for you, what you
will need in addition will be great cities in which to live. This is why many
will be built where there is nothing now but desert and desolation. These
cities will require water above and beyond what the Nile
and the aquifers provide, thus seawater will be desalinated by machines that
are now designed, perfected and produced locally.
And of course, you will need modern transit in the cities
and high speed systems between them. This is why river ports, high speed rail,
regional airports and the like are envisaged in the Morsi plan.
All in all, while the eager ones and the skeptics were
making noise and were feeding false stories of gloom and doom to anyone who
would listen, the President of Egypt was doing his job quietly and confidently.
His critics may or may not be impressed now, but he is too busy to pay
attention.
All the while, the smart ones from among the CEOs of
corporations worldwide will look at the plan to see where they can contribute
and make an honest buck for their shareholders.