Egypt, Switzerland Sign 2 Grants Worth $19 Mln

The Ministry of International Cooperation announced the signing of two grants worth $19 million with Switzerland. The grants are to benefit the Ministry of Housing, Utilities and Urban Communities, in implementing the second phase of the drinking water management program in Upper Egypt and the sludge management project in Beni Suef.

This comes within the framework of bilateral relations between Egypt and Switzerland, through the joint development cooperation program for the period 2021-2024, for which about $94 million were allocated to various sectors such as water, sanitation, green transformation, and enhancing private sector development participation.

The two grants are to implement the 2nd phase of the drinking water management program in Upper Egypt, by contributing to improving the method by which drinking water is managed and this service is provided to citizens in Aswan Governorate, and providing equal opportunities to benefit from the reliable drinking water supply system in the targeted areas in the Aswan Governorate, and contributing to adopting measures to provide water to the residents of the targeted areas in Aswan Governorate.

The grants also aim to finance the “Sludge Management in Beni Suef City” project, which aims to improve sludge management in small and medium-sized wastewater treatment plants in regional cities in Egypt using an integrated technology that can be replicated in other governorates to have a systematic impact during the establishment of an organic fertilization plant to improve sludge management and produce renewable energy.

For her part, the Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, stressed the importance of Egyptian-Swiss economic cooperation relations and the government’s keenness to strengthen this partnership and move it to broader horizons in a way that serves the national development agenda and enhances the implementation of development priorities in various fields, stressing the importance of the programs implemented within the framework of the partnership with Switzerland and the role of development cooperation in enhancing green transformation efforts and empowering the private sector in Egypt.

Al-Mashat had met with the Minister of State for Economic Affairs of Switzerland, Helene Budliger Artieda, last September, in Sharm El-Sheikh, where they discussed enhancing joint bilateral cooperation. Al-Mashat also met with the Swiss Ambassador to Egypt, Yvonne Baumann, to prepare the joint cooperation program between the Egyptian and Swiss sides for the period 2025-2028. The program is to continue along the lines of the current Swiss cooperation program 2021-2024, which addresses governance, human rights, green growth, youth skills development, and issues of protection and migration.

It is worth noting that Egypt and Switzerland have close economic cooperation relations extending over more than 40 years, and within the framework of development cooperation efforts, funding and technical support have been made available to many development projects and sectors, as well as to the private sector and civil society organizations.