The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat said that the ongoing development cooperation portfolio of the Ministry of International Cooperation includes 169 projects implemented in various development sectors through non-refundable development grants worth $3.4 billion, distributed by 23% for the housing and utilities sector, 15% for scientific research and higher education, 13% for supporting the efficiency of the Government of Egypt’s administrative apparatus, 8% for education and technical education and 41% for other sectors.
This was during H.E.’s meeting in the Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, headed by Representative Karim Darwish, to discuss the ministry's budget and investment plan for the fiscal year 2023-2024, in the presence of committee members and heads of the Ministry of International Cooperation.
Al-Mashat indicated that concessional development financing is the main objective of supporting development efforts in the country, so it is characterized by a long-term repayment period and a decrease in the interest of financing compared to other commercial financings, noting that the current portfolio of the ministry records about $24 billion.
H.E. noted that Egypt enjoys great confidence in its dealings with international financing institutions and multilateral development banks, which gives it a high priority in providing appropriate funding for projects to be implemented through development cooperation efforts. This is in light of its adherence to precise principles of governance and transparency, where H.E. pointed out that negotiations for project financing goes through many very important stages with development partners, in addition to passing the necessary approvals from national entities to ensure the need for financing and the lack of local financing for the project.
Al-Mashat reviewed the benefit of the Egyptian and foreign private sectors from development funds and guarantees issued by international financing institutions, noting that the dry port in the Sixth of October City is being implemented by the private sector with a financing contribution from development partners represented in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as the project of the Norwegian company Scatec in the field of renewable energy implemented with funding from development partners.
H.E. stated that the Ministry of International Cooperation is keen to enhance the principle of transparency by publishing the efforts that are being implemented with development partners on the ministry’s website, which includes an interactive map that includes all projects that are being implemented distributed according to the governorates with information on the SDGs and financing, along with the periodic reports that are issued and the annual report, which is a comprehensive document that includes all the details of the international partnerships across the year.
With regard to the soft development funds that were agreed upon during the year 2022, Al-Mashat indicated that they include non-refundable grants of $483 million, directed to implement 43 projects, at a rate of 33% for the education sector, supporting the efficiency of the government apparatus by 17%, and irrigation, agriculture and catering by 11%, other sectors by 25%, and framework agreements by 13%.
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