The World Bank Group (WBG) will participate at Egypt's Economic Development Conference with a high level delegation, Poonam Gupta, acting country director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti, told Ahram Online on Sunday. "The World Bank is committed to helping Egypt end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. We are fully engaged in the implementation of projects worth $5.4 billion in various sectors, including energy, transport, job creation, water and sanitation, health and education," said Gupta. The delegation will be headed by WBG chief operating officer and managing director Sri Mulyani Indrawati, who is responsible for the WBG's affairs in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Latin America and Europe and is one of two managing directors under the WBG's president Jim Yong Kim. The Egyptian government is relying on the conference, scheduled for mid-March, to reinvigorate foreign investment in an economy that continues to suffer from four years of turmoil. The World Bank Group stated last week that it provides support for the economic conference in Sharm El-Sheikh through "policy advice and the mobilisation of international expertise" in response to the Egyptian government's request. "This is consistent with efforts to help the Egyptian economy meet the aspirations of the people," said Gupta, in reference to the high-level delegation and the development projects. The WBG delegation at the conference includes Jin Cai, the executive vice president and CEO for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), as well as Hafez Ghanem, vice president for the Middle East and North Africa region, in addition to senior managers at the World Bank and the IFC. "This high level event will mark an important step for Egypt in the consolidation of reforms to foster growth and to attract investment," the statement said. The Economic Development Conference is scheduled for 13 to 15 March in the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh. Egypt has climbed one spot to rank 112th out of 189 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business 2015 report, after passing new regulations seen as providing better protection for minority investors. "The World Bank Group is a committed financial and knowledge partner and the Economic Development Conference offers a welcomed opportunity to advance the dialogue with the Egyptian authorities in order to promote social inclusion and shared prosperity," the WBG said in the statement. The group establishes partnerships with countries on a medium or long-term level through offering financial assistance, technical support, knowledge and policy advising. The WBG's portfolio in Egypt now includes 26 projects and commitments of $5.4 billion in the 2015 fiscal year. Delegations from the WBG had discussions with various stakeholders in late February in Cairo, Alexandria and Aswan as part of the 2015-2019 Country Partnership Framework (CPF). The CPF focuses on development priorities for Egypt as part of a strategy of the WBG on the regional level in MENA and part of the "World Bank's overreaching goal of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity," according to a press release late February. The WBG consists of three institutions: the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group, and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) which promotes foreign direct investment into developing countries. Source: Ahram Online
