Egypt's Sahar Nasr and Hala El-Saeed -- respective ministers of investment and international cooperation and of planning and administrative reform -- discussed Sinai development projects and ways in which the World Bank (WB) can support the plans alongside WB officials during a visit to Washington, Al Ahram Arabic website reported on Sunday. Nasr and Saeed discussed how the WB and the International Finance Cooperation (IFC) can support and participate in development projects with the private sector, which will be carried out by the Egyptian-Saudi investment fund in the Sinai Peninsula. According to Nasr, the Egyptian-Saudi investment fund has US$16 billion of Saudi capital to inject investments into a number of projects in Egyptian governorates. The minister added that the projects would be chosen from Egypt's investment map, which was prepared by Egypt's Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation in coordination with the rest of the ministries and governmental agencies. Nasr added that the majority of the projects would focus primarily on the Sinai Peninsula. Practice Manager at the WB Jean Pesme expressed great anticipation for the WB's upcoming support for the private sector in development projects in Sinai. Saeed spoke about the new Egyptian sovereign wealth fund, and how Egypt is learning from other countries' experiences. The two ministers also met the Middle East and North Africa vice president of the WB in Washington, discussing future development projects the WB could support, as well as how to accelerate procedures to receive the $1 billion of support for Sinai development along with the $5 million to support affordable social housing projects.
