Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the World Bank Group, has met with the team responsible for the World Bank's Development Policy Financing (DPF) loan programme. The team comprises Marina Wes, Country Director for Egypt, Yemen, and Djibouti; Mark Eugene Ahern, World Bank's Lead Country Economist, and Mohamed Hisham El-Shiaty, Senior Private Sector Specialist. The Minister discussed with the World Bank team extending the Country Partnership Framework (CPF), in order to maintain the momentum and build on the strong progress achieved over the course of the 2015-2019 CPF and its two-year extension that followed. Al-Mashat noted that as Egypt is taking significant and rapid steps to achieve Egypt's Vision 2030, the Ministry is gearing towards achieving the following pillars: 1) promoting a more inclusive economy for Egyptian businesses, women and youth, 2) accelerating Egypt's green economy transition and anchoring CPF DPF's prior actions to be serving the environmental, sustainable, and social sectors particularly in light of COP26, 3) enhancing Egypt's competitiveness by supporting private sector growth and strengthening governance. In regard to Egypt's hosting of the 27th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Climate Change Convention (COP 27) next year, Al-Mashat noted that this reflects Egypt's regional leadership position to lead green transformation efforts, and the importance of mobilizing innovative financing tools such as blended finance and risk-reduction to increase climate finance geared towards sustainable infrastructure. Al-Mashat said that the world, especially emerging countries, is in increasing need of financing for climate action, especially in light of the inability to provide previous pledges to secure $100 billion annually from developed countries for climate action. The Minister referred to the country's strong commitment to shift towards a green economy, and to take consistent and strategic steps to achieve that end, such as the government's aim to ensure that all public projects are 30% green by the end of 2024.The government also issued the region's first green bonds, worth $750 m, to streamline environmental sustainability in development projects. Al-Mashat also stressed the importance of fostering dialogue to yield results for national initiatives, such as the 'Decent Life' initiative, which is regarded as the largest national project in the history of Egypt, aimed at achieving integrated development for more than half of the population at the national level. For their part, the representatives of the World Bank Group congratulated Egypt on its success in winning the hosting of COP27, which reflects the leading role that Egypt plays in transitioning to a green economy, stressing that Egypt is the first country in the region that participates with the World Bank Group in developing a strategy to fight climate change through joint cooperation in preparing the World Bank's Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR). In October, the World Bank approved a $360m DPF loan to support Egypt's post-pandemic recovery, which focuses on three pillars, including: enhancing macro-fiscal sustainability, enabling private sector development, and fostering women's economic inclusion. The ongoing development cooperation portfolio with the World Bank includes 18 projects in various sectors, including education, health, transportation, social solidarity, petroleum, housing, sanitation, local development and the environment worth $5.8bn.
