In order to enhance the principles of transparency and governance within the framework of international cooperation and development financing, and in line with international calls aimed at developing the global financial structure and advancing efforts in the field of climate action and development, the Ministry of International Cooperation announced the details of the annual report under the title “International Partnerships for Sustainable Development: Platforms for Policy and Practice” which includes the results of international partnerships with multilateral and bilateral development partners, and concessional development financing, over the period from 2020 to 2023.
This comes in light of the Ministry of International Cooperation’s keenness to announce the details of cooperation with development partners through a detailed annual report issued in December of each year. The Ministry of International Cooperation has issued previous annual reports for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022; the new report includes the results and outputs of the joint coordination cooperation platforms and strategies launched by the Ministry in cooperation with development partners, and activating development cooperation policies, in a way that meets development priorities and requirements.
Details of soft development financing 2020-2024
The annual report of the Ministry of International Cooperation for the year 2023 reveals that the total soft development financing packages and grants obtained by various sectors of the state and the private sector during the past four years amounted to about 38.8 billion dollars, from multilateral and bilateral development partners, through the efforts undertaken by the Ministry in cooperation.
With development partners and national entities, in order to transform the national vision and various strategies of the Arab Republic of Egypt into tangible international companies.
The report, which was launched by the Ministry today, added that the total soft development financing for the various sectors of the state amounted to $28.5 billion, while development financing directed to the private sector amounted to about $10.3 billion during the period from 2020 to 2023, revealing that these financings vary in the field of climate, development, and empowering the private sector. H.E. explained that these financings are long-term and have easy interest rates, as the average interest rate on financings agreed upon over 4 years is about 1.6%, and the average repayment period reaches 18.6%, while grace periods reach 6.4 years.
These financings were provided by various multilateral development partners, namely the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, and the Islamic Private Sector Finance Corporation, the Green Climate Fund, the United Nations and its affiliated agencies and programmes, the African Export-Import Bank, the Arab Monetary Fund, the Islamic Development Bank, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, in addition to bilateral development partners, namely the French Development Agency, Spain, South Korea, the Kuwait Fund for Development, and China.
Austria, Japan, the United States of America, the European Union, Germany, Canada, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, the Saudi Fund for Development, Switzerland, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Netherlands Development Bank, and the German Development Bank.
The Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, said that multilateral cooperation and international relations have been the subject of a major test over the past years, in light of the successive challenges and crises starting with the pandemic, and its economic, social and health repercussions, then the Russian-Ukrainian war and its impact on supply chains and the global economy, as well as Geopolitical challenges, adding that the Ministry of International Cooperation worked to transform the national vision and various strategies of the Arab Republic of Egypt into tangible international companies on the ground, and implemented an innovative framework for development cooperation using national platforms to achieve integration between development partners and combine development efforts and climate action.
Al-Mashat stated that to deal with these challenges, the Egyptian government has worked to implement the principles of the global partnership for effective development cooperation, and despite calls to develop the international financial structure, Egypt has been a pioneer in enhancing development efforts and climate action, implementing national platforms based on state ownership, and following a joint approach that is significantly reflected in the content and quality of partnerships with multilateral and bilateral development partners in order to accelerate progress in the global march towards the globally agreed 2030 SDGs and in line with our national agenda.
H.E. noted that the framework of international cooperation and development financing for the Arab Republic of Egypt aims to maximize the social and economic returns from sustainable development financing aligning development interventions with national goals as well as with sustainable development goals, and strengthening the management of development cooperation to improve the implementation of development projects within Egypt.
H.E. stressed that, based on the extended and close relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and multilateral and bilateral development partners that extend over decades, and the accumulated Egyptian experiences in formulating and implementing development financing projects, the state has been able to mobilize development funds to advance development efforts within 4 years despite the great demand for these funds from various developing and emerging countries, it is long-term and very easy compared to other commercial financing.
This comes in light of the tasks of the Ministry of International Cooperation in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 3030 of 2004, where the Ministry works to develop and strengthen economic cooperation relations with countries and international and regional organizations, propose standards and controls for external borrowing and obtaining foreign grants, and follow up on local borrowing entities in use and repayment as well as grants within the framework of the general economic policy of the state to ensure the achievement of economic development goals, manage the relations of the Arab Republic of Egypt with organizations, bodies and institutions of economic cooperation and international and regional financing, and ensure continuity and specialized agencies of the United Nations in the field of economic cooperation.
Principles of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation
The report indicated that these funds were directed to the sectors and beneficiaries of the government sector, the private sector, civil society organizations, and research centers, noting that the international partnerships of the Arab Republic of Egypt are based on the principles of the International Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC), which is based on 4 principles: first, state ownership to ensure consistency of development projects with national priorities and goals, second, focusing on results in order to achieve measurable results using results frameworks and countries’ monitoring and evaluation systems, third, comprehensive partnerships for all effective stakeholders, and fourth, transparency and mutual accountability between relevant parties and ensuring Availability of development cooperation information.
The annual report of the Ministry of International Cooperation includes an executive summary of the results of international partnerships and development financing over a period of 4 years, in addition to 4 parts that include details of the international partnerships implemented during the year 2023. The first part focuses on the strategies that were launched with the various partners, while the second part highlights Green transformation efforts in light of Egypt’s presidency of COP27 and preparations for COP28, while the third part highlights efforts to empower the private sector and small and medium enterprises and encourage innovation and digitization.
For more details about the report for 2023
https://moic.gov.eg/ar/page/annual-report-2023
Annual Report 2022 “From Pledges to Implementation”
https://moic.gov.eg/ar/page/annual-report-2022
Annual Report 2021 “Effective development cooperation to build a better future”
https://moic.gov.eg/ar/page/annual-report-2021
Annual Report 2020 “Shaping the Future in a Changing World”
https://moic.gov.eg/ar/page/annual-report-2020
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