Al-Mashat: Holding AIIB's Annual meetings in Egypt Is Opportunity to Enhance Joint Action

Nada Mustafa

The Minister of Internatinal Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, met with the two vice-presidents of the AIIB, Ludger Schuknecht, Vice President of the Bank for Infrastructure Investment and Executive Secretary of the Bank, and Konstantin Limitovskiy, Vice President of the Bank for Investment Operations, with the participation of the technical teams of the Ministry of International Cooperation and the bank as part of their participation in the activities of the annual meetings of the AfDB, held in Sharm El-Sheikh from 22-26 May.

During the meeting, Al-Mashat expressed the government's appreciation for the distinguished partnership between Egypt and the bank since it became a member in 2016, as the bank's development financing portfolio in Egypt amounts to about $1.3 billion. The partnership resulted in the implementation of a number of development projects in a number of vital areas., such as the implementation of the Benban solar power plant in Aswan, which the bank co-financed along with many private sector companies and development partners, and is a model for multilateral cooperation in order to support development efforts and climate action.

H.E. also applauded the bank's role in financing the second phase of the program for sustainable sanitation services in rural areas, which the bank contributes to financing in partnership with the World Bank, as it aims to provide and improve sanitation services in several governorates.

The two sides also discussed the foundations of the future partnership between Egypt and the bank. In this regard, Al-Mashat stressed the importance of the projects included in the future partnership portfolio, on top of which is the project to develop the Abu Qir railway line in Alexandria and convert it into an electric metro, which will be funded in partnership between the AIIB and the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the French Development Agency (AFD), in light of the state's efforts to develop a sustainable transport and infrastructure system.

Al-Mashat stressed the importance of formulating a strategy for development cooperation between Egypt and the bank that includes the most important areas of joint work, and that this strategy is in line with the vision and efforts of the state to stimulate the private sector and increase its role in supporting development efforts in accordance with the state's priorities to achieve comprehensive and sustainable growth.

H.E. pointed to the deep cooperation between Egypt and the bank and the preparations for holding the annual meetings of the AIIB in Egypt next September, which represents a great opportunity to expand the scope of the bank's operations in Egypt by supporting the government's priorities and stimulating the participation of the private sector in development.

The meeting also discussed cooperation in implementing the Nexus for Water, Food and Energy platform, the "NWFE program, which identifies a group of priority projects in the fields of mitigation and adaptation to climate change to implement the national climate change agenda, and to promote projects through technical assistance and mobilize mixed financing for the private sector.

For their part, representatives of the AIIB expressed their appreciation for the strategic partnership with Egypt and their keenness to diversify areas of cooperation and expansion in various priority sectors for the country.

At the conclusion of the meetings, the two sides signed the agreement to abandon the reference interest rate "LIBOR", which is the approach adopted by other international institutions. Egypt is the largest contributor from Africa and the first founding member from the continent in the AIIB.