CAIRO: Egypt will receive ?120 million in loans from the European Investment Bank for development projects in the fields of water safety and renewable energy. The loans were announced by Philippe de Fontaine Vive, Vice President of EIB, at the First Euro-Mediterranean Conference and Exhibition on Donor Funding, Banking and Novel Financial Instruments on Wednesday night. A water and wastewater services investment program in the Nile Delta will receive ?70 million from these loans. The money will go into building the infrastructure needed to provide clean water and sanitation for about 4 million people in four Governorates: Behira, Damietta, Gharbia and Sharkia. The Egyptian government plans to invest the remaining ?50 million in a wind farm project on the Red Sea. Egypt has signed the Kyoto Protocol and set out to obtain 20 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by the year 2020. The EIB is Egypt's major partner in fulfilling these plans. The Bank has committed to supporting efforts to develop renewable energy projects both in and outside Europe and has already spent ?2.2 billion on such undertakings. The EIB's investments in Egypt alone have reached ?4 billion. Financing of SMEs in Egypt also came into focus at the Euro-Mediterranean Conference. The recently appointed head of the EU Delegation in Cairo, Marc Franco, stressed on the importance of small and medium enterprises and their potential to alleviate one of the biggest structural problems of the region: unemployment. He expressed the commitment of the EU to support the development of the South Mediterranean Region. To Egypt, he promised, "As a representative of the European Commission, I assure you that the EU will be with you and supporting you through all reforms. At the conference, Rachid Mohamed Rachid, the Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry, pointed to the achievements of Egyptian business. "A success story of a community willing to take charge of its presence and its future, he said referring to the Egyptian business community's role in pushing ahead the economic agenda of Egypt. He also specifically praised the role of IMC, the Industrial Modernization Center, calling it "a jewel I have in Egypt. Overall the speeches made on Wednesday night were optimistic about the development of economic ties between the North and the South Mediterranean. "The Mediterranean Sea should be treated as a lake. We can travel in hours between its shores, said Galal El Zorba, the Chairman of the Federation of Egyptian Industries and BUSINESSMED. Egyptian officials sent a clear-cut message about Egypt's ambition to become Europe's major partner in the region. Only a day earlier, however, the Egyptian Minister of Investment Mahmoud Mohieldin stressed that facing Western protectionism, Egypt should be looking for new opportunities in Asia.
