The French Development Agency (AFD) is providing € 715.6 mn in financing to support an array of development projects, cabinet said in a statement yesterday. The agency signed seven agreements with International Cooperation Minister Rania Al Mashat in Paris yesterday in a meeting coinciding with President Abdel Fattah El Sisi's trip to the French capital for talks with President Emmanuel Macron. The funds come as part of a larger €1 bn strategic partnership agreement between the two countries first signed in 2019. The Abu Qir railway project will receive €250 mn, € 150 mn will be earmarked for developing an energy policy evaluation system that will assist in regulating the transition towards a more sustainable transit infrastructure, and the Tanta-Mansoura-Damietta railway modernization project will be allocated €95 mn. Health, education and wastewater projects will also get funding.