The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is considering an Egyptian application for funds that could total as much as 1bn EUROS per year, the bank's president said Tuesday in Tel Aviv. Thomas Mirow, the president of the EBRD, met with Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday. According to the Jerusalem Post, they are discussing with Israel a possible “key role” in Egypt's economic development through the bank. The EBRD website states that it envisages Israel's role in Egypt as “...creating new businesses and to provide employment and so help contribute to the political, economic and social stability of the country.” Mirow did not go so far as to state that the parties supported investing in Egypt, but rather that they both agree that stabilising Egypt through the economy is logical. Both Israel and Egypt are shareholders in the bank. The bank is considering offering development funds in response to the initial request by the regime of the former Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak in May of 2010 to identify areas of the economy that the European Bank could develop. This current transitional government has reiterated interest in development funds from the EBRD through a letter dated 10 March from the interim Minister for International Cooperation Faiza Abu Naga. The paper added that there were three main areas in which the bank saw they could help Egypt: establishing an efficient and robust finance sector, fostering competitive small- and medium-sized companies and improving the standard of the services in local municipalities.
