Al-Mashat Meets US Congress Foreign Affairs Committee Delegation

Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, met with a delegation of representatives US Congress Foreign Affairs Committee within the framework of their visit to Egypt, in the presence of Chargé d'Affaires of the US Ambassador to Cairo, John Deroche, and Margaret Sancho, Deputy Director of the USAID Mission in Egypt, Deputy Senior Chief Council at United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Aaron Jordan, Foreign Affairs Council in the U.S. House foreign affairs committee, Chris White and Chief Professional Officer for the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee, James Walsh.

During the meeting, Al-Mashat was keen to stress the importance of close relations at the level of development cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United States of America through the USAID. 

The partnership has extended for decades of joint work to support sustainable development efforts and stimulate rapprochement between the two countries based on shared interests and the diverse opportunities available to strengthen joint relations, especially at the economic level, and strengthen partnership with the private sector in light of the efforts made by the state to enhance development efforts and preserve its gains in light of the challenges facing the global economy.

Al-Mashat referred to the various programs that are being implemented with the USAID through annual grants that are made available to achieve a number of goals, including supporting economic reforms, enhancing the competitiveness of the business community, stimulating trade and investment, developing the workforce and developing youth skills, as well as programs to develop education and vocational training sector, agriculture, health and tourism. 

The Ministry of International Cooperation and the USAID signed 7 grant agreements worth $160 million last March, and discussions are currently underway on a development grant program for the coming period to implement several priority projects between the two sides.

H.E. also affirmed the Government of Egypt’s keenness to advance development efforts by providing more opportunities for the private sector, referring in the same context to its numerous meetings with the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to discuss increasing its investments in Egypt in priority areas. 

That is in line with Egypt's modernization of its national contributions NDC, in line with what was announced at COP27 provides greater opportunities for climate investment, pointing to the efforts made through the framework of international cooperation and development financing to stimulate the participation of the private sector in development, as the concessional development funds obtained by the private sector from development partners since the beginning of 2023 amounted to about $ 2.1 billion, in addition to the financing of $ 7.3 billion during the last 3 years 2020-2022, whether in the form of investments, contributions, lines of credit or development financing, for companies of all kinds, large, medium and small, and startups.

Al-Mashat drew attention to many international institutions interested in financing the private sector, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), as well as bilateral partners, adding that the structural reforms implemented by the state since 2014 in many sectors, especially renewable energy, have reflected an increase in the interest of international financing institutions’ interest in financing the private sector resulting in many successful financing models, most notably the Benban solar power plant, which was funded by international financing institutions and attracted many local investors.

She stressed the importance of partnerships being launched between the private sector and international financing institutions to stimulate development efforts in Egypt in line with the country's vision, as in this context, funds were provided from the EBRD to the private sector, which is working on implementing the first dry port in the city of 6th of October, in addition to the financing of international financial institutions for the Norwegian company Scatec, which is implementing a green hydrogen project in the Suez Canal economic zone. It has obtained a guarantee from the MIGA financing from the EBRD and a grant from the Climate Investment Funds (CIF).

In the same context, Al-Mashat indicated the importance of climate action and the efforts made by the country over the past period and its presidency of COP27, explaining that climate action today is a top priority, with diverse projects in mitigation and adaptation.

She noted the successive steps taken by the state in this regard, as it launched the National Strategy for Climate Change 2050 and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), as they were recently updated and announced during the past month in the field of mitigation and adaptation.

She added that the program seeks international support from international financing institutions and bilateral development partners, and that during COP27, the joint political declaration between Egypt, the US and Germany was issued on support for the energy pillar within the program.

Al-Mashat stated that the NWFE program was formulated in accordance with national visions and strategies to provide concessional development funds and blended funds that stimulate the private sector, technical support and expertise to implement green projects in the areas of adaptation and mitigation to curb the impact of climate change, noting the many ongoing efforts with development partners since the launch of the platform. During COP28, details and results of these efforts will be announced.

She was keen to refer to the efforts of the governance of development cooperation by matching concessional development funds with the SDGs in the application of the standards of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and international standards to accurately identify the impact of these funds on advancing the SDGs and strengthening the future decision-making processes.

Al-Mashat reviewed the details of updating national strategies with development partners over the past period and preparing the Egypt - UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework, as well as preparing the partnership framework with the World Bank, the EBRD, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other partners in accordance with national priorities and in accordance with national priorities.

15% of the current development cooperation portfolio is development grants aimed at enhancing technical support, conducting feasibility studies, supporting the process of capacity building and enhancing the skills of human cadres.

She said that the concessional development funds also include funds to support the budget, but they are directed to projects that are at the core of the interest of the Egyptian citizen, on top of which are comprehensive health insurance, the social protection program, Takaful and Karama, and the strengthening of food security efforts, and other areas.

Al-Mashat also referred to the other efforts that were implemented during COP27, including the launch of an international competition for startups in the field of climate action technology, which witnessed the wide participation of startups from different countries of the world: ClimaTech Run.

Al-Mashat presented, to representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the US Congress, a copy of the Ministry's Annual Report for the year 2022, which includes an account of all development cooperation efforts that took place over the past year, as well as the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing, which was launched by the Ministry in cooperation with more than 100 international entities and development partners to stimulate equitable climate finance and enhance the ability of developing countries and emerging economies to attract climate finance.

The ongoing development cooperation efforts with the USAID include 11 ongoing projects for technical support in various sectors, and 41 projects and programs are being implemented in several fields, mainly education, economic development, health and governance, in cooperation with 14 ministries and agencies. The following projects are being implemented in light of the objectives of the national strategy for comprehensive economic development, promotion of social justice, support for economic reform, and improvement of governance in a way that supports efforts to achieve sustainable development in Egypt.