Al-Mashat Participates in High-Level Session Titled “Public Meets Private: Unlocking Sustainable Investment in Egypt.”

Within the activities of “IFC Day in Egypt” and the high-level forum held during the activities of the visit of Mr. Sergio Pimenta, Vice President of the Foundation for the Africa Region, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt to the World Bank, participated in a discussion session entitled “Public Meets Private: Unlocking Sustainable Investment in Egypt” with the participation of Dr. Hala Al-Saeed, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, Mr. Tarek Tawfiq, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, and Mr. Stephane Gimbert, Regional Director For Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti at the World Bank, the session was moderated by Cheikh Omar Sylla, Regional Director of the IFC for North Africa and the Horn of Africa.

The session aimed to launch a dialogue between the government and the private sector to explore ways to unleash sustainable investment in Egypt, in light of the reforms and efforts undertaken by the government to empower the private sector and implement the state ownership policy document, in a way that advances the comprehensive economic development plan in Egypt.

The role of international financial institutions in supporting government measures to empower the private sector

In her speech, the Minister of International Cooperation stressed the importance of the role played by the private sector in achieving development, driving economic growth and creating job opportunities, and the opportunities available through partnership between the government and private sectors to benefit from the resources and accumulated expertise of the business community to meet development challenges.

The Minister explained that, in implementation of the presidential directives regarding activating the participation of the private sector, enhancing its role in development, and providing the best alternatives to bridge the financing gap, the Ministry of International Cooperation has begun establishing a working group concerned with private sector participation to benefit from the initiatives and programs implemented by development partners, to push the role of the private sector, especially in light of the efforts and measures undertaken by the government at the level of economic and structural reform to maximize the role of the private sector.

H.E. stated that the course of economic reform in Egypt was characterized by successive measures since 2014 that contributed to creating an environment conducive to private investment, and focusing on equal opportunities and transparency. These measures were completed in the recent period by launching the state ownership policy document, and moving forward with the implementation of the government proposals program, as well as reforms of state-owned companies to improve transparency and competitiveness in the Egyptian economy through legislative amendments that guarantee the neutrality of competition between state-owned companies and others.

Partnership between the government and private sectors

The Minister of International Cooperation touched on partnerships between the government and private sectors, stressing that they are a major tool for achieving development. To this end, the government has worked to increase the projects offered through the PPP system, and it has also launched a partnership unit between the government and private sectors to establish a long-term partnership between the two sides.

In the same context, the Minister of International Cooperation reviewed the fruitful partnership with the International Finance Corporation to encourage participation between the government and private sectors and provide investments and technical support to implement major projects in various sectors, bringing the total investments to about $9 billion, in addition to a portfolio of advisory services.

H.E. touched on the importance of the guarantees platform that will be launched by the World Bank early next July, noting that the Ministry of International Cooperation is working to introduce this platform to enhance the Egyptian market’s benefit from it in a way that expands the range of financing tools available in Egypt.

Reaping the benefits of private sector participation

Al-Mashat stated that achieving comprehensive and sustainable development and maintaining the development path amid regional and international challenges will not be possible without the significant participation of the private sector, with its great experience and ability to employ and use modern technologies to achieve the desired development, stimulate innovation and increase productivity, which is reflected in the Increase GDP.

She stressed that expanding the scope of private sector participation has a significant impact on enhancing the culture of innovation, digitization and entrepreneurship, noting in this regard that the government has taken steps to improve the environment for entrepreneurship and innovation, including launching a special unit for these companies in the Council of Ministers, noting that the Ministry of International Cooperation has also launched Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises platform, which works to link financial and non-financial services available from development partners and private sector companies, whether large, medium or small, as well as emerging companies.