Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat said that her ministry is currently working in coordination with all ministries and concerned development partners to chart future cooperation strategies with international institutions for the next five years. This will ensure that all presidential initiatives and government priorities are included in these strategies, such as the Decent Life Presidential Initiative. The minister explained in a panel session during the World Youth Forum that the ministry is coordinating with all international financing institutions and multilateral development banks through a new framework for international cooperation that consists of three principles: Multi-stakeholder platforms for streamlining projects, ODA-SDG mapping to ensure transparency and identify funding gaps, and the Global Partnerships Narrative to document success stories for other countries, particularly countries in the South, and future projects. Through this framework, the ministry aims to maximise social, economic, and environmental benefits from development finance, and ensure the consistency of development projects with national priorities and the sustainable development goals. The multi-stakeholder platforms are carried out through a participatory approach that includes a variety of stakeholders, such as the private sector, civil society institutions, and relevant ministers to push ahead with reforms and the priorities needed to move forward in the implementation of the projects. She also referred to the study held by the ministry with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2019 on how to enhance the role of the private sector, and one of the important recommendations was the need to expand innovative financing. The current portfolio amounts to $26bn to achieve the goals of clean affordable energy (Goal 7); clean water and sanitation (Goal 6); and industry, innovation, and infrastructure (Goal 9), reflecting Egypt's commitment to governance, transparency, and ESG principles. Development financing is also provided to support the private sector as well, not just the government, the minister noted. During 2020, the private sector obtained development financing worth $3.2 bn in the form of credit lines to banks out of a total of $9.8 bn in total financing. Since the United Nations' Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27) will be held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt this year, there is a need to adopt a common framework for blended financing to reduce risks in investing in developing countries and address climate change, as developing countries face obstacles in obtaining funds to promote a green transformation.
