By Mohamed Ayyad During the Economic Summit in mid-March, Egypt signed a declaration of intent with the European Investment Bank (EIB), to finance developmentprojects, said Minister of International Cooperation Nagla Al-Ahwani in a statement Sunday. The declaration with EIB included many sectors in which the bank is willing to fund in the period between 2015-2017. This shows the bank's serious intent to develop cooperation with Egypt on all levels, especially on the level of economy and investment, the statement said. Al-Ahwani added: "The Egyptian side, in the meantime, will execute a number of projects in sectors of priority, starting with local economic and social development, infrastructure, transportation, electricity, energy, environment, communications, the private sector, as well as the subsidy of small- and middle-sized industries." The EIB signed a funding contract with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) with a credit of €120m, to participate in developing the private sector. This reflects the intention of the government to encourage banks to provide the small, middle-sized and micro enterprises with the sufficient funding. The portfolio of cooperation between Egypt and EIB is estimated by €6.4bn so far. Relations between the bank and Egypt began in 1977 and, through the portfolio, the bank funded several development projects. These have been in several sectors, including energy (electricity and petroleum), drinking water and sanitation, as well as small and middle-sized enterprises.
