Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, met on Monday, with Sean Jones, the new United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director in Egypt and his accompanying delegation.
According to a statement recently released by the Ministry of International Cooperation, Al-Mashat congratulated Jones on assuming his position, expressing her hope that the coming period will witness more joint cooperation and fruitful partnerships in light of Egyptian-US relations to enhance development efforts in Egypt in various sectors.
Moreover, Al-Mashat highlighted the Government of Egypt’s joint relations with the United States of America, as well as the distinguished partnership that exists with the USAID, which extends to various development sectors in light of the common interests and relations between the two countries, and the reflection of this partnership in the formation of an ongoing development cooperation portfolio that records about $1 billion since 2014 in the form of development grants directed to many vital sectors, such as developing and maximizing the role of the private sector, financing small and medium enterprises, developing the education and health sectors, tourism, and agriculture, and enhancing climate action.
Al-Mashat pointed out that this strategic partnership will be strengthened during the year 2022 by signing grant agreements worth $160 million to advance development efforts by targeting several sectors, most notably education and health, in addition to a new climate initiative grant agreement worth $15 million, referring to the consultations. The technical teams from both sides are continuing to sign more grants during the current year to meet national development priorities.
The Minister of International Cooperation reviewed the details of the Nexus for Water, Food and Energy Platform, the NWFE program, and its role as a national platform in mobilizing and enhancing climate financing and private sector investments. They discussed the proposed cooperation pillars with the agency in this context.
She also referred to the political declaration issued by the United States, Germany and Egypt to support the energy pillar within the NWFE program to provide development grants to implement its projects, and the government’s recent update and announcement of the NDCs in confirmation of its commitment to advancing climate action efforts.
In turn, the Director of the USAID Mission in Egypt expressed his happiness to join the agency’s work team in Egypt to build on the decades-long partnership between the United States government and Egypt, stressing his aspiration to work jointly with various parties to meet the priorities at the level of the strategic partnership between the two countries to promote economic growth, women empowerment and climate action.
Through USAID, the US government has invested more than $30 billion in Egypt's development. These efforts strengthened the partnership between the United States and Egypt and contributed to improving the situation of the Egyptian people.
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