The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat met with a delegation of 12 Assistant Members from the US Congress, from the Republican and Democratic parties; all belonging to important congressional committees covering various aspects of cooperation with Egypt.
Al-Mashat began the meeting by reviewing the role of the Ministry in managing Egypt’s development financing portfolio, worth about $25 billion and encompassing 377 projects across sectors.
She added that the Ministry of International Cooperation is working through the principles of Economic Diplomacy to strengthen economic relations with bilateral and multilateral development partners, and to support the country’s development vision and progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The minister explained that the Ministry contributes to closing development financing gaps through partnerships with various international organizations, adding that, “after signing on projects, we monitor their implementation to ensure they achieve the desired goals.”
In this context, the delegation stressed the importance of the strategic economic relations between Egypt and the United States of America, where Al-Mashat indicated that the partnership between the two countries since 1978 amounts to about $30 billion.
The development financing portfolio with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) amounts to over $900 million since 2014, supporting projects across sectors, including education, health, governance, private sector, and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The Assistant Members of the US Congress commended Egypt on its economic and structural reforms, and the steps being taken to transform it into a green and sustainable economy.
Al-Mashat stated that these reforms have supported the country in enabling the shift from being energy deficient to energy exporting, especially to neighboring countries; Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, and Greece, as a result of the reforms implemented in this sector.
This, alongside the Sustainable Energy Strategy, outlines the country’s aim to increase the supply of electricity generated from renewable sources to 20% by 2022 and 42% by 2035.
In this context, many projects funded by development partners, and with the participation of the public and private sectors, are being implemented, including the Benban Solar Project which is considered the largest solar energy park in the region and one of the largest stations in the world.
This in addition to plans to benefit from green hydrogen, which contributes to enhancing business competitiveness and stimulating trade and investment.
The US delegation also applauded the state’s efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resilience shown by the country’s economy in the past year in Egypt’s ability to achieve growth despite the economic challenges faced by most of the region’s economies.
In this regard, Al-Mashat emphasized that the pandemic requires joint cooperation, as is the case with the SDGs. The Minister added that in Egypt, vaccination is a major goal in mind, and that all state entities are cooperating to make vaccines available, noting H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s directives to cooperate with countries, including the United States of America, in confronting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting also looked into Egypt hosting the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27). The Minister pointed out that the conference is an opportunity to create international partnerships that support the country’s efforts in a green transformation, and to present what has been achieved so far in the fields of renewable energy, water, SMEs, and digitalization. Al-Mashat stressed that projects to support adaptation and mitigation efforts require government investments, thus the importance of innovative and blended finance.
Al-Mashat also reviewed the country’s efforts to transform into a regional energy center and the launch of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum. This in addition to efforts to develop and digitize education, alongside expanding social protection programs and water and sanitation projects. The Minister referred to the country’s efforts in increasing tourism revenues.
The delegation also expressed its interest in learning about the efforts made towards enhancing the role and empowerment of women. Al-Mashat referred to the National Strategy for the Empowerment of Egyptian Women, noting that the Ministry of International Cooperation has also launched the “Closing the Gender Gap Accelerator” with the National Council for Women (NCW), the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the private sector. This accelerator is the first of its kind in the region, aiming to support the state’s commitment to closing economic gender gaps.
Al-Mashat also stressed the role of the Government of Egypt in achieving a decent standard of living for its citizens, highlighting the launch of the first national strategy for human rights, which aims to promote social, economic, political and cultural rights within the country. The Minister also referred to the “Decent Life” Presidential Initiative, considered the largest national project in Egypt’s history, aiming to achieve integrated development for more than half of the country’s population, through infrastructure projects and investment in human capital, particularly by addressing the needs of rural communities.
Concluding the meeting, the US delegation commended the measures taken by Egypt to ensure economic growth, and they applauded the Decent Life initiative, expressing appreciation towards the Government of Egypt’s commitment towards development projects to improve the quality of life for citizens.
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