Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the World Bank Group, met Stephen Gumpert, the new Regional Director of the World Bank for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti, who took office in early-mid-August to succeed the former Regional Director Marina Wes, where the meeting touched on discussing and discussing various aspects of partnerships. and development cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the World Bank Group, and the successive developments that have taken place over the past period, on top of which is the launch of the new strategic partnership framework for the period 2023-2027, with the participation of the leaders of the World Bank and the Ministry of International Cooperation and in the presence of the Prime Minister and a number of ministers and senior officials Egyptian government officials and development partners.
At the outset of the meeting, the Minister of International Cooperation welcomed the new regional director of the World Bank in Egypt, wishing him success in his new mission towards strengthening partnership frameworks aimed at achieving sustainable development. The Arab Republic of Egypt for this partnership, whether at the level of development funds or technical support, and its importance in implementing many projects that directly benefit citizens, including the expansion of social protection programs “Takaful and Karama”, the comprehensive health insurance project, the Upper Egypt development project and other basic sectors.
For his part, Stephen Gumpert thanked the Minister of International Cooperation for the warm reception and her role in strengthening the existing partnership between Egypt and the World Bank. Facing the challenges facing development efforts.
The Minister of International Cooperation referred to the preparation and successful launch of the joint Qatari strategy with the World Bank for the next five years, which began with the signing of an agreement to select the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as a strategic advisor to the government in the proposals program in light of the state’s keenness to empower the private sector and increase its participation in all areas of development. She explained the government’s aspiration for more joint cooperation, especially at the level of increasing financing for small, medium and micro enterprises, and other fields, in addition to highlighting the efforts of the International Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to deepen its role at the level of empowering the private sector and increasing its investments, as well as moving forward in The existing cooperation between the government and the World Bank to finance the projects of the national platform of the “Novi” program is the focus of the link between water, food and energy projects and efforts to promote climate action, and the emphasis on support in the implementation of the Sharm El-Sheikh plan to implement climate pledges.
The Minister of International Cooperation also discussed strengthening technical support efforts for many sectors, especially empowering the private sector, mixed financing for water desalination projects, irrigation systems, river transport, and developing areas related to the blue economy, stressing the importance of diagnostic reports carried out by the World Bank in Egypt, which were issued Among them are many reports, including the climate and development report, the report on achieving the demographic dividend in Egypt, and the importance of translating these reports into operational measures on the ground that enhance development efforts.
Al-Mashat discussed, with the new regional director of the World Bank, conducting a new study to assess the situation of foreign direct investment in Egypt, in addition to preparing the national strategy for industry and the importance of these two studies for the state in light of its endeavor to attract more foreign direct investment and localize the industry in various sectors.
The meeting discussed the preparations for holding the annual meetings of the World Bank Group to be held in Marrakech, as well as the road map for developing the role of the World Bank Group to play a greater role in fighting poverty and promoting common prosperity. The road map for developing the role of the World Bank and its methodology to support member states was also discussed, noting that the Egyptian state stresses the importance of integrating global and regional dimensions in a development model based on state ownership and meeting its priorities, and in this regard it is of great importance to support close cooperation with multiple development banks. Parties, increase the financing capacity of the World Bank Group, and search for more efficient ways to stimulate the operating model.
It is worth noting that the ongoing portfolio of development cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the World Bank Group includes 14 projects worth $6.9 billion in the fields of education, health, transportation, social protection, renewable energy, water desalination, housing, local development, and the environment.