VZCZCXRO4795
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHEG #0709/01 0731006
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141006Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4011
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 000709 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ELA, EB/IFD, EB/TRA, OES FOR CARTER-FOSTER 
TREASURY FOR NUGENT AND HIRSON 
COMMERCE FOR 4520/IT/ANESA/OBERG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELTN ECON PGOV EG
SUBJECT: ECONOMIC REFORM SNAPSHOT: NEW BLOOD AT 
TRANSPORTATION MINISTRY TRANSFORMS WAY BUSINESS IS DONE 
 
Sensitive but unclassified, not for internet distribution. 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary.  A series of recent meetings at the 
General Authority for Road, Bridges, and Land Transportation 
(GARBLT) illustrates how private sector experience is 
transforming the way business is done at the Egyptian 
Ministry of Transportation (MOT).  Shedding normal 
bureaucratic inertia, former oil and gas executive Tarek El 
Attar, the new head of GARBLT, is reaching out for new talent 
to assist him in devising creative solutions to revamp 
Egypt's dilapidated national highway system, utilizing 
partnerships with both civil society and the private sector. 
While a more comprehensive road safety strategy is still 
needed to see a measurable decrease in the number of annual 
road accidents and deaths, Mansour's private sector savvy is 
bringing notable change to the MOT.  End Summary. 
 
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HEADHUNTING FOR TALENT 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU)  Since his appointment in February 2006, former 
business mogul and current Minister of Transportation Mohamed 
Mansour is slowly transforming the way business is done at 
the MOT.  One example of this is the selection of former oil 
and gas executive Tarek El-Attar as chairman of GARBLT in 
June 2006, tasking him with upgrading the 23,000 km of 
national roads under his jurisdiction. (Note: The 26 
individual governorates are responsible the remaining 37,000 
km of roads in Egypt.  End note.)  El-Attar, in expressing 
his seriousness about revamping the dilapidated national 
highway system, told econoff he has met with the Prime 
Minister four times since November 2006 regarding highway 
reconstruction, and hired World Bank consultants to evaluate 
the national road system's maintenance and repair needs. 
Approximately 90,000 additional cars appear on Egypt's road 
system each year, a heavy burden for the many already 
congested and decaying streets. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Bucking traditional public sector hiring practices, 
El-Attar used a headhunter to hire a new team to transform 
GARBLT's operations.  In November, El-Attar hired Dr. Hisham 
Fouad, an Egyptian-American, who had been working at the 
Maryland State Highway Administration for seventeen years. 
Fouad told econoff that GARBLT's short term plans include 
numbering all national roads, adding signals and lights on 
all highways, and the constructing a World Bank-sponsored 
"Safe Road" from Hieksta to Zagazig in Egypt's populous Nile 
Delta region.  All new GARBLT-produced signs will exclusively 
use high quality, reflective 3M products.  In the long-term, 
GARBLT plans to completely reconstruct all major highways, 
create a more accurate accident data base, and audit existing 
roads.  A WHO representative working with GARBLT on a 
inter-ministerial road safety strategy said the new team at 
MOT is vastly more responsive than the representatives he 
reached out to two years ago. 
 
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EMPHASIS ON PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  While an increase in tolls on national highways in 
2007 will generate some revenue for national highway 
projects, Minister Mansour acknowledges the vital role the 
private sector plays in realizing MOT goals.  Mansour 
publicly stated in February 2006 that one of his main 
objectives is to initiate public-private partnerships in 
areas that need reforming, thereby creating opportunities for 
job growth, foreign direct investment, and local investment. 
Officials at GARBLT are trying to put his vision into action, 
forging partnerships with both private sector and civil 
society groups to solidify long-term funding.  The Egyptian 
operations of energy giant Shell, for example, in conjunction 
with a local rotary club, agreed to fund new signs on the 
highly-traveled, and dangerous, Cairo "Ring Road."  GARBLT 
courted prospective partners at an AMCHAM lunch in December, 
and will soon present its strategic plan to other prospective 
private sector donors who appear eager to fund their 
initiative, but are looking for GOE guidance and leadership. 
The World Bank estimates Egypt's roads are in need of 1.3 
billion LE (USD 22 million) in upgrades, and even with some 
private partnerships, the government must invest 
substantially to see improvement in road conditions. 
 
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CAIRO 00000709  002 OF 002 
 
 
COMMENT 
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¶5.  (SBU)  Integrated cooperation among high-level officials 
at the Ministries of Transportation, Interior, Health, and 
Information is needed to see a measurable decrease in the 
reported annual 6,000 deaths and 35,000 injuries on Egypt's 
roads.  A national public awareness campaign and mandatory 
drivers' education are also key.  However, MOT's organized -- 
and non-traditional in the Egyptian sense -- approach to 
improving the national highway system is a clear step in the 
right direction.  Though faced with resource constraints and 
bureaucratic hurdles not seen in their previous jobs, former 
private sector officials are approaching MOT challenges with 
a high level of skill and creativity, which will hopefully 
lead to real results. 
RICCIARDONE