Key cabinet posts were reshuffled in Egypt Thursday with the appointment of a number of new ministers in the government of Prime Minister Mustafa Madbouli. The changes that included a total of 12 ministerial posts, saw the appointment of head of the elite Republic Guard Mohamed Ahmed Zaki as defense minister and Mahmoud Tawfik, who served as chief of the domestic National Security Service, as interior minister. Other cabinet changes include Amr Adl Bayoumi, appointed minister of trade, and Ezz el-Din Abu-Steit as minister of agriculture. Younis el-Masry, the commander of the Air Force, will be the civil aviation minister in the new government. The reshuffle came as President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is working to introduce economic reforms and tighter security measures. Two new female ministers, Hala Zayed who will head the ministry of health and Yasmine Fouad who was tasked with the environment portfolios, were added to the six existing female ministers in the outgoing cabinet. On Thursday, the new 33-member cabinet took the oath of office before Sisi at the presidential palace in east Cairo. Later, the president held meetings with former Defense Minister and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Sedky Sobhy; newly appointed Defense Minister Mohamed Zaky; former Interior Minister Magdy abdel Ghaffar, and newly appointed Interior Minister Mahmoud Tawfik. Ambassador Bassam Radi, spokesman for the Egyptian presidency said that during the meeting, the president praised the coordination and cooperation between the two ministries to confront terrorism, and boost security and stability in Egypt. In a press release, Radi said Sisi expressed respect and appreciation to the armed forces, adding that the Egyptian people appreciate their precious sacrifices to spread security and peace throughout the country. In his first statement after the appointment Thursday, the new finance minister said his ministry will work on providing the needed financing to speed up the completion of all pending projects, especially those in the health, education and housing sectors.