Tarek El-Molla, Egypt's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, has received two delegations from the World Bank to discuss the executive procedures for exporting natural gas to Lebanon. The meetings also tackled the work programmes of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum, the global efforts to transform to clean energy and reduce emissions, and the national projects to deliver gas to homes, and local digital transformation projects. The first delegation comprised Mirza Hassan, Dean of the Board of Executive Directors and Executive Director of the Bank, and Ambassador Raji El-Etreby, Alternate Executive Director of Egypt at the World Bank Group. The second delegation comprised Paul Nomba, Regional Director of the World Bank for Infrastructure Affairs in the Middle East and North Africa, and Marina Weiss, Director of the Bank in Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti. After his meeting with the delegations, El-Molla stressed that the World Bank is a strategic partner for the Egyptian petroleum sector and has participated in achieving many success stories over the past years, and that there is great agreement and support from the Bank to transform Egypt into a regional energy center in light of its participation in the membership of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum as an observer since the beginning configure it. He referred to Egypt's full commitment to all international agreements aimed at preserving the environment, and stressed during the talks that the bilateral meetings he held on the sidelines of his participation in the Global Climate Summit (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland focused on Egypt's participation in the American initiative to reach zero emissions and discussing Egypt's leading role in the region Eastern Mediterranean. World Bank officials confirmed their keenness to follow up on what is being achieved in the Egyptian state in the areas of digital transformation, clean energy, and reducing emissions to preserve the environment, noting that the increase in the contribution of natural gas to the Egyptian energy mix confirms this trend. They pointed out that choosing Egypt to host the COP27 is a strong evidence of the global appreciation of Egyptian efforts to preserve the environment. With regard to the procedures for exporting Egyptian gas to Lebanon, the World Bank officials confirmed that work is currently underway with the Lebanese side to facilitate gas access and support these procedures, as they represent a distinct model of regional partnership in the region.
