On the sidelines of the Egyptian-EU Investment Conference, under the auspices of Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, met with Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission.
During the meeting, Al-Mashat welcomed Dombrovskis and the Commission team during their visit to Egypt, expressing gratitude for their joint efforts and coordination over the past period to finalize procedures and discussions related to the Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) agreement.
In her remarks, the Egyptian official emphasized the significance of this conference and the high-level European participation, including private sector companies and European Commission officials, reflecting significant progress in bilateral relations aimed at stimulating private sector investments meeting mutual development needs.
Minister of International Cooperation discussed with Dombrovskis the future steps to benefit from the Egyptian-European partnership, particularly following the signing of the first tranche of financing under the Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) to support the budget deficit, totaling one billion euros. She also highlighted plans to leverage guarantees provided by the European Union to local and foreign private sectors through international and European financial institutions, expected to enhance foreign direct investment flows into the local market across sectors such as green hydrogen, renewable energy, water, food security, climate action, and human capital investment.
She also clarified that the government is coordinating among relevant parties to implement agreed structural reforms under the first tranche of Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA), aiming to enhance the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy, improve fiscal efficiency, and strengthen social protection, among other measures to improve the investment climate in Egypt.
Al-Mashat underscored three primary objectives that form the core of cooperation with the European Union and other development partners, including the World Bank and African Development Bank: enhancing the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy, improving the business climate, supporting economic resilience and stability, and promoting green transformation.
The minister also emphasized the importance of advancing efforts to implement the political declaration issued during the Egyptian-European Summit last March, outlining specific areas that define the future of Egyptian-European relations, ensuring the stimulation of joint development, addressing developmental challenges, and advancing economic, trade, and investment relations.
Minister Al-Mashat referred to the Egyptian-European Partnership Council held in January last year, serving as a precursor to enhancing relations between the two sides, noting that the Ministry of International Cooperation issued a detailed report on relations with Europe from 2020 to 2023 during the Council's events in Brussels. Dr. Rania indicated that the upcoming session of the Partnership Council will present a significant opportunity to strengthen discussions on implementing the political declaration.
It is worth mentioning that Egypt and the European Union formulated a comprehensive Strategic Partnership Document signed in March last year, clearly defining specific areas of cooperation: political relations, macroeconomic stability, sustainable investment and trade, including energy, water, food security, climate change, migration, security, and human capital development. Thus, the implementation of these areas is expected to unleash the potential of the relationship between Egypt and the European Union to work to their full capacities.
The European Union offers a package worth 7.4 billion euros through the new Partnership Document, including 5 billion euros to support the budget under the Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) framework, in addition to 1.8 billion euros in investment guarantees to attract local and foreign private sectors and encourage investment flows into Egypt, along with 600 million euros in developmental grants.
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