Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation, Rania A. Al-Mashat, met with Muhammad Sulaiman Al Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), at the Ministry of International Cooperation's headquarters in New Administrative Capital. Al-Mashat stated that the Ministry of International Cooperation is keen to increase joint cooperation programs with the bank in the coming period, in light of the ambitious development plan implemented by the Egyptian government to accelerate sustainable development in accordance with the SDGs. The minister said that Egypt is one of the largest beneficiaries of the IsDB's financing, as the bank contributes to 382 projects in various sectors, including electricity, energy, agriculture, irrigation, education, health, industry, mining, information and communications, with a total funding of about $21bn. Out of these projects, 332 have been completed and 50 are underway. The minister mentioned a number of cooperation activities with the IsDB, such as transportation projects and others, explaining that the bank's support for the private sector will be published through the Private Sector Portal: Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment For Enterprises, which introduces various forms of support from partners to the private sector. Al-Mashat highlighted the IsDB's interest in financing some of the NWFE program projects, such as the two projects: "Modernizing Irrigation Systems in Old Agricultural Lands," which aims to reduce water waste, increase crop productivity, and provide water for land reclamation, and "Water Desalination Using Solar Energy," which aims to launch five solar-powered water desalination plants in four governorates with a total capacity of 525 thousand cubic meters per day, rising to 1.75 million cubic meters per day by 2050. The project aims to provide clean water and promote the green transformation, thus implementing the NDCs and Egypt's Vision 2030. Another project is "Enhancing Resilience in Vulnerable Areas," which aims to increase the resilience of climate-vulnerable areas through specific interventions to improve farmers' livelihoods in desert and remote areas, such as Oases, Al-Mughra, Sinai, and the south-eastern part of Egypt. The project is expected to benefit about five million people living in these areas. Al-Mashat also discussed with the IsDB the framework document for the strategic partnership that was signed between the Egyptian government and the bank, which aims to harmonize the strategic plans of the Egyptian government and its development priorities with the 2030 sustainable development strategy of Egypt and the strategic directions of the bank. Al-Mashat referred to the signing of the amendment to the fifth framework agreement with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), on the sidelines of the 47th session of the annual meetings of the IsDB in Sharm El-Sheikh, which reflects the strategic relations between Egypt, the bank, and the ITFC that support the government's efforts in providing basic goods. Al Jasser, the president of the IsDB, pointed to the growing partnership between the bank and Egypt, stressing the bank's interest in participating in financing priority projects for the Egyptian government, as well as fostering the cooperation that the bank supports between Egypt and African countries within the bank's initiative to exchange knowledge and expertise and South-South Cooperation to benefit from Egypt's expertise in various sectors.
