Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation (MIIC), Sahar Nasr, and the Japanese ambassador to Egypt, Masaki Noke, inked letters of intent to extend Japan's support for Abu El Reesh Japanese Children's Hospital, according to statement from the MIIC on Sunday. The hospital's establishment works was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said the statement, noting that JICA's full funding for the project will reach $18m upon the new signing which reaffirms the Egyptian government's focus on enhancing medical services for Egyptian citizens. "The grant aims at providing better medical services for the low-income people. We will benefit from the Japanese expertise to boost the Egyptian medical staff's skills," Nasr said. The project will serve about 30,000 patients annually, Nasr added, noting that the Egyptian government highly appreciates the Japanese government's support at all levels. The Japanese-Egyptian relations are expected to witness further cooperation in the near future, Nasr noted, affirming that the MIIC continues its negotiations with international partners to promote the investment of people in key sectors including health and education. Extending the Japanese support for the Abu El Reesh Japanese Hospital is very important, Egypt's Minister of Higher Education, Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, said, noting that it will decrease the pressure on other hospitals. Japan is committed to offer its full support to the Abu El Reesh Japanese Hospital as it makes a difference in the medical care services that are provided to Egyptian mothers and children, ambassador Noke highlighted. “This year is very important for the Egyptian-Japanese relations, with Egypt taking over the chairpersonship of the African Union and Japan hosting the G20 summit by the end of June and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) by the end of August," the ambassador noted. Egypt plays a key role in both conferences, and achieving universal health coverage is one of the top priorities of both countries' agendas, the ambassador added, affirming that Egypt is striving to improve health care services, and Japan supports these efforts to achieve comprehensive health care through training doctors and improving the quality of hospitals.
