Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said the government aims to achieve three key elements: boosting economic growth and GDP rates by working to create new jobs and support micro, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSME); supporting youth through training, rehabilitation, and skill development programmes; and eroding poverty and providing social protection for the most vulnerable groups through the expansion of support programmes, such as the Takaful and Karama programme and social safety net projects, to include 1.7 million families, up from the current 1.6 million. She added that the ministry is working with the government to expand the application of the school lunch programme and to extend the natural gas grid to reach the neediest areas to work for sustainable development. This came during a meeting with a number of Egypt's partners in development, including representatives of the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, as well as the African Development Bank, the US Agency for International Development, and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), in addition to a number of embassy representatives for Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, in order to discuss the government's subsidy programme in the coming period. Nasr reviewed what has been achieved through the government's economic programme and the targets set for the programme in the coming period. She also thanked Egypt's partners in development for their help with the economic reform programme, especially in the field of educational development. She recommended that they continue to cooperate and coordinate in support of the projects that secure better standards of living for Egyptians.
