Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, met with Ragnheiður Elín Árnadóttir, Director of the Development Center of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and a number of the organization’s officials, virtually. During the meeting, areas of cooperation during the year 2024 were discussed, and the strengthening of joint work with the organization through its programs to exchange knowledge and development experiences with different countries.
This comes in light of the joint relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the OECD, and the efforts made to enhance the effectiveness of development cooperation, and benefit from the organization’s methodologies and platforms in stimulating blended finance, empowering the private sector, and applying international standards in development cooperation efforts.
The meeting witnessed discussions between the two sides to enhance efforts to exchange knowledge and transfer expertise and development experiences in the field of international cooperation to other countries through the OECD’s platforms, and various events organized by the Development Center of the organization, as an extension of the efforts in this field, as the Ministry of International Cooperation and the Development Center organized, a joint session on “Investing in Sustainable Infrastructure for a Just Transition” as part of the activities of the Egypt - International Cooperation Forum in its 2022 edition, in addition to enhancing cooperation through regional and international events, as well as publications and reports launched by the Center.
During the meeting, the Minister stressed the importance of joint work and cooperation with the OECD, especially at the level of efforts to exchange knowledge and experiences between different countries, explaining that Egypt has pioneering experiences in launching national platforms for joint development work that it can share with different countries, especially Launching the country platform for the “NWFE” program, the nexus of water, food and energy projects, which was launched following the approval of the National Strategy for Climate Change 2050 and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), as it includes 9 priority projects and aims to mobilize mixed financing to enhance private sector investments, investment guarantees, and mutual exchanges through debt swaps , grants, and concessional financing to advance Egypt's efforts in the field of green transformation.
Al-Mashat pointed out that the platform includes various relevant parties, including development partners, the private sector, and national entities, to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of projects and to stimulate government funds and private investments, referring to the report issued by the high-level future expert group during the COP28 climate conference in the UAE, which emphasized the vital role for national, state-led platforms in addressing pressing development needs and priorities.
On the other hand, the Minister touched on the Ministry’s efforts to enhance the effectiveness of development cooperation and the principles of transparency and governance, by launching the electronic system for managing data and following up on facilitated development financing projects (AIMS), pointing out that the new system is a mechanism for linking and unifying data related to development cooperation agreements, projects and programs with development partners, in order to ensure the availability of relevant information at all levels between the Ministry and all national authorities in order to enhance their role in the monitoring and evaluation process and support decision-making.
Al-Mashat reviewed the Ministry’s efforts in launching the Private Sector Engagement Portal: Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises,, which aims to provide financial and non-financial services provided by multilateral and bilateral development partners in one platform, in a way that enhances the private sector’s benefit from these funds and enhances its investments.
On the other hand, OECD officials appreciated the partnership with the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the efforts made by Egypt to align with the goals and standards of the OECD with regard to the effectiveness of development cooperation.
They also pointed to the role that the Center plays in promoting innovative solutions to advance sustainable growth and reduce poverty and inequality, by facilitating policy dialogue between governments with the participation of public and private entities and non-profit organizations, pointing to the vital role that Egypt has demonstrated in leading the launch of national platforms that enhance the efforts of development such as the Private Sector Engagement Portal to engage and empower the private sector and enhance its partnership with international institutions.
The OECD works to advance growth and stimulate economic reforms, governance structures, and private sector development, and in light of the close cooperation with Egypt, many activities and events have been implemented, including the participation of the Ministry of International Cooperation, the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, and the the Islamic Development Bank organized a workshop on “Triangular Cooperation with the Continent of Africa” during the first edition of the Egypt - International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF). The organization is also among the partners contributing to the preparation of the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing.
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