Egypt Signs $240 Mln Agreement with Japan for Energy Sector Development

On Tuesday, the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, Rania El-Mashat, and Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, signed a $240 million-worth agreement with the Japanese embassy and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the development of the country’s energy sector and support the state budget.

The Chief Representative of JICA Egypt Office Omura Yoshifumi and a number of Egyptian and Japanese officials have attended the signing ceremony.

The deal aims to enhance green growth and sustainable development as well as alleviating the repercussions of climate change and countering the impact of coronavirus "COVID-19".

During her word, Al-Mashat said that the agreement comes in the aftermath of one-year negotiations despite the coronavirus crisis and the repercussion of lockdown globally.

She added that Japan’s current cooperation portfolio with Egypt amounts to $2.7 billion used in 14 projects in a number of developmental sectors, including electricity, education, higher education, scientific research, tourism, and antiquities.

The minister also emphasized Egypt’s appreciation of the development finances that the Japanese government has extended to Egypt to back the country’s efforts in combating coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Maait said that the agreement is compatible with Egypt’s efforts to provide urgent development finances to contribute to mitigating the pandemic’s socio-economic impact and to back the most hit sectors.

The Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Masaki Noke asserted the importance of the new finance in supporting Egypt’s efforts towards green economy transformation and enhancing clean energy transformation policies.

The Ministry of International Cooperation secured $9.8 billion as development finances in 2020, including $3.2 billion for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and $6.7 billion for other development sectors.

Notably, Japan, during the first wave of the pandemic, provided Egypt with a grant worth $9.3 million to be used in medical sets and supplies in the health ministry’s hospitals, bringing the total amount of the Japanese grants current portfolio to $54.5 million.