WYF: Al-Mashat Underscores Role of Networked, Inclusive Multilateralism for Post COVID-19 Recovery 

The Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, participates in the high-level panel session during the third day of the World Youth Forum entitled “The Role of International Institutions in Supporting Post COVID-19 Recovery from the Pandemic”.

The session was attended by  Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and Special Envoy To the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Odile Renaud Basseau, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Ambassador Nasser Kamel, Secretary-General of the Union for the Mediterranean, Marina Wes, Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti at the World Bank, Ahmed Rizk, Deputy Regional Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization “UNIDO”, Laurent de Boeck, Director of the Office of the Organization for Migration, Eric Ochlan, Director of the International Labor Organization in Cairo, Benedict Orama, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export-Import Bank, and Leo Zhenmin, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations for Social and Economic Affairs.

During the session, the Minister of International Cooperation underscored the importance of setting and implementing global frameworks that can be streamlined across all stakeholders to ensure transparency as well as the inclusion of a variety of actors to push for inclusive and networked multilateralism, such as the private sector, civil society, and youth.

The Minister presented the Ministry's framework of implementing international cooperation and development financing for Egypt, which streamlines all financing under one umbrella to avoid repetition and improve the management of international development cooperation to implement projects effectively. The Minister added that the strategic partnership between Egypt and international financial institutions delivered substantial results in Egypt's local development vision.

Egypt was able to withstand the repercussions of the pandemic as a result of its already existing partnership with all development partners, and that the role of international cooperation goes beyond just ensuring enough financing, but also in providing a means to impact human lives and collaborate with different stakeholders, such as youth, to respond to their challenges and tap on their innovative power to support the country's development vision.

The Minister noted that the Ministry's role is focused on strengthening economic diplomacy through three principles: multi-stakeholder platforms to streamline all development projects and bring together all stakeholders together at one table to discuss the country's development priorities. The second is ODA-SDG mapping, which is focused on mapping all development projects according to the SDGs to identify funding gaps and ensure transparency, and lastly, the Global Partnerships Narrative, which focuses on knowledge sharing between different countries and bridging technology gaps.

Over the past two years, the Ministry of International Cooperation held 14 multi-stakeholder platforms on health, the private sector, agriculture, transportation, women's empowerment, digitization, food security, and small and medium enterprises.

By the end of 2021, the ongoing development cooperation portfolio will reach $25.5 billion for 372 projects, which will aim to achieve Goal 9 for Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, accounting for the largest percentage of financing (22.3%), with a value of $5.9 billion, and the Goal 6: Clean Water, which accounts for 20.3% of the development financing, with a value of $5.3 billion. The portfolio also targets Goal 7: Clean and Affordable Energy, which covers 17.5% of development financing, with a value of $4.6 billion.

To promote knowledge sharing between emerging economies, particularly African countries, the Minister pointed out that the Ministry is keen on documenting the Egyptian experience in international cooperation and development financing, which led to the publishing of the book "Stakeholder Engagement through Economic Diplomacy" by the London School of Economics in 2021.

The Minister of International Cooperation stressed that the ministry’s portfolio and the partnerships that are implemented with development partners in coordination with all concerned government agencies, meet national development priorities, as the Ministry’s ongoing portfolio includes 149 projects to develop investment in human capital worth a total of $5.5 billion. The portfolio also includes 111 projects in various infrastructure sectors (transport, housing, energy, irrigation, and local development) worth $18.5 billion.