The Egyptian Parliament announced Sunday appointing head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) Abu Bakr El-Gendy as the new minister of local development as part of the cabinet reshuffle.

El-Gendy was born on 20 January 1949. He graduated from the Egyptian Military Academy in 1968, then earned a Master of Military Science in 1979, and was a fellow of the Higher War College in 1993.

During his career, El-Gendy headed the training commission of the Egyptian Armed Forces. He was also appointed as the leader of an infantry battalion, then leader of a mechanic infantry battalion, after which he was appointed as the leader of the Third Field Army. He was also the head of the Egyptian-US relations department at the Ministry of Defence.

In 2005, he became the head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics while maintaining his positions as head of the Egyptian-US relations department, vice chairperson of the Cairo Demographic Centre (CDC), and member of the National Council for Social and Criminal Research.

He was awarded several military medals during his work, including the Order of the Republic.