Al-Mashat, New Zealand Minister of Trade Discuss Economic Ties

The Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat held bilateral meetings as part of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum which is taking place at Singapore from November 16 to 19; starting with a meeting with New Zealand’s Minister of Trade, Agriculture and Rural communities, during the presence of New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Jo Tyndal, and Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Trade.

During the meeting, Minister Al-Mashat discussed areas of mutual cooperation between Egypt and New Zealand, and means of widening the horizon of development cooperation between both countries, as H.E. reviewed the Ministry of International Cooperation’s international partnerships with bilateral and multilateral development partners, in order to bolster Egypt’s sustainable agriculture systems; develop rural communities and enhance food security.

The Minister stated that the projects implemented with Egypt’s relevant stakeholders, in cooperation with the World Food Programme (WFP), are an example of these partnerships.

These projects aim to achieve agricultural development in a number of villages across Upper Egypt so as to increase farmers’ incomes and enhance women’s engagement in rural work, as well as to empower girls.

This is in addition to establishing innovation and knowledge exchange centers, such as Luxor Center for Innovation, which is the first of its kind in Africa, and comes in light of the WFP’s Centre of Excellence initiative that encompasses platforms allocated for achieving food security and addressing malnutrition among developing countries through the exchange of knowledge and expertise.

They also delved into means of expanding the cooperation scope between New Zealand and African countries through Egypt, as it is Africa’s gateway, and touched upon means of benefiting from available potential Egypt’s strategic location holds. Furthermore, they addressed the implemented partnerships with development partners to enhance New Zealand’s development cooperation with Africa in the fields of agriculture, food security, and developing rural communities.

Al-Mashat presented the pillars of the “Decent Life’ Presidential initiative, which is aimed at improving the living conditions of rural communities and is one of Egypt’s mega projects. This initiative is meant to benefit more than half of the Egyptian population through developing the infrastructure and investing in human capital.

The Minister is participating in the Bloomberg New Economy Forum, to discuss global economic issues; address mutual visions to overcome challenges facing advanced and emerging economies, and discuss the world’s commitment to limiting climate change’s repercussions and providing the necessary funding for emerging countries to confront these repercussions.

This is taking place with the participation of over 750 economic leaders, policymakers, CEOs, and entrepreneurs, including Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan; United States Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo; Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry, Gan Kim Yong; Rwanda’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Uzziel Ndagijimana; Tanzania's Vice President, Dr. Philip Isdor Mpango was sworn in as Tanzania's Vice President; President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank(AIIB), Jin Liqun; and the Founder of Bloomberg LP, Michael R. Bloomberg.

It is worth noting that Minister Al-Mashat had participated in the Bloomberg Summit for New Economies last year, which was held virtually. During the forum, Bloomberg chose Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as models for emerging economies in the region post the pandemic, as a result of the economic homegrown reforms and the opportunities that characterize both countries, despite the economic challenges on the regional and global level.