Prime Minister Sherif Ismail attended on Monday the first founding assembly meeting of Reef Company that is responsible for reclaiming 1.5 million feddans in Egypt's new countryside.

The capital of the new company, which was established on December 17, 2015, is 8 billion pounds.

"The company should not pose any burdens on the state budget, especially that factors of success are various," the prime minister said.

"Abdel Fattah El Sisi is closely following up the implementation of the 1.5 million feddans project," Ismail said.

He added that the company's board of directors would receive full support from all bodies concerned to guarantee the success of the project.

Earlier, President Sisi gave the go-ahead of the first stage of the 1.5-million-feddan reclamation project in Farafra area in the New Valley governorate.