Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation (MIIC), along with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) inked new grant agreements worth of €1.5m to upgrade Egypt's railway cargo system and rehabilitate the locomotives. One of the grants will be disbursed in conducting a study for the establishment of a separated subsidiary company of the Transportation Ministry and application of a goods-tracking system while the other grant will be allocated to assist the Egyptian National Railways in the consultancy works to purchase 100 locomotives. Transportation sector is a top priority for the MIIC to attract new investments to and set cooperation strategies with the international development partners, Minister Sahar Nasr said, noting that her ministry succeeded to provide transportation sector with $6bn in funds. Minister of Transportation Kamel Al-Wazir said his ministry pays great attention to modernization of the country's National Railways, affirming that they cooperates with different financial institutions to achieve this target and sign the biggest contracts with the international partners. The EBRD's overall investments in Egypt are about €5bn for diversified sectors including the industrial and infrastructure sector, Deputy Head of Egypt office at the EBRD Khalid Hamza said, asserting the EBRD's keenness on continuing the strategic cooperation with the Egyptian government. "The new grant agreements will contribute to developing the transportation sector as a key sector for accelerating the country's economic growth economy," Hamza mentioned. "The comprehensive economic reforms created an attractive environment for investments particularly in the transportation sector," he added.
