Egypt, EU Discuss Joint Co-op & Future Projects

On Sunday, the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat held a virtual meeting with the Ambassador of the European Union in Egypt, Christian Berger, to follow up on the joint development cooperation efforts between the Government of Egypt and the EU.

This is within the framework of the strategic relations between both sides, as well as to discuss the results of last week's meeting held by Al-Mashat and the Executive Vice President of the European Green Deal at the European Commission, Frans Timmermans.

At the beginning of the meeting, Al-Mashat stressed the importance of strategic relations between Egypt and the EU, which is one of the most important international multilateral institutions for the country, particularly in light of its development over the past years within the framework of the state's development priorities and efforts to achieve the sustainable development agenda.

Al-Mashat referred to the development agreements implemented with the EU during the past year; including a grant of €58 million to support development efforts in several sectors, as well as a grant of €80 million to develop the health sector and address the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister also pointed to the importance of strengthening cooperation in the coming period through more partnerships that enhance bilateral cooperation through innovative financing and other cooperation mechanisms with the EU.

The Minister and Ambassador also discussed future projects between the Government of Egypt and the EU within the framework of the 2021-2027 strategy. This is within the framework of development priorities, including rural development, transport, energy, and the green transformation, gender, and social development through technical support and development financing.

The discussions also touched on cooperation between Egypt and the EU in the field of energy, as well as Egypt's COP27 presidency to support the country's efforts in implementing adaptation projects and mitigating the repercussions of climate change.

They also discussed the results of the EU mission that visited Egypt at the end of last January to discuss cooperation in health and vaccination.

For his part, the EU Ambassador pointed to the importance of the partnership with Egypt, the role played by the EU to support the development vision and the efforts implemented by the Government of Egypt. He also emphasized the EU’s interest in more joint cooperation with Egypt.

It is worth noting that Egypt has a strong partnership with the European Union, as the current cooperation portfolio amounts to about €1.35 billion in grants to support several sectors, including transport, small and medium enterprises, energy, environment, social protection, governance, capacity building and civil society; alongside benefiting from many European initiatives and regional cooperation programmes.