Al-Mashat Honors Country Director of WB, Director of Operations

During the launch of the Country Partnership Framework between Egypt and the World Bank, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the World Bank, honored Marina Wes, Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti at the World Bank, and Robert Bou Jaoude, Director of Operations at the World Bank’s Egypt Office, in the presence of Ferid Belhaj, Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Region of the World Bank.

This came as part of the backdrop of the near end of the term of the World Bank's country director in Egypt, where Al-Mashat stressed the role played by the bank's country office in strengthening bilateral cooperation, and continuous communication with various government entities to advance areas of cooperation in order to promote national priorities to achieve the SDGs.

Al-Mashat thanked the World Bank team for their efforts over the past period in preparing the partnership in cooperation with the Ministry of International Cooperation team and technical teams from the various relevant entities, whether from the government or the private sector.

The CPF was launched yesterday in the presence of H.E. Dr. Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of Egypt, where Al-Mashat and Belhaj delivered opening speeches in which they emphasized the depth of the strong relations between Egypt and the World Bank. The ceremony was attended by a group of ministers, officials of the private sector, civil society, and members of the House of Representatives and Senate.

The new partnership between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the bank for the period 2023-2027 supports future joint cooperation programs and projects. The new partnership was approved on March 21, 2023, by the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group, in order to support efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable growth, based on national priorities in various sectors and the development vision over the next five years. The new partnership of the World Bank is consistent with the Government of Egypt’s strategy for sustainable development, Egypt's Vision 2030, and the Egypt National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS) 2050.

The partnership aims to support the Arab Republic of Egypt in building innovative paths and sustainable solutions to address development challenges in various sectors, foremost among which is the eradication of poverty, the promotion of comprehensive prosperity for all segments of society, and the creation of conditions conducive to achieving comprehensive, sustainable and resilient green development.

The new CPF places the citizen at the core by striving to achieve 3 main objectives, which are: More and better private sector jobs: through supporting the creation of an empowering environment for private sector-led investments and job opportunities as well as creating a level playing field for the private sector; Enhanced human capital outcomes: through supporting the provision of inclusive, equitable and improved health and education services as well as effective social protection programs; and Improved resilience to shocks: through strengthened macroeconomic management, and climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.