Egypt has a huge development cooperation portfolio amounting to about $26bn that is funding 372 ongoing projects in various development sectors to enhance sustainable development efforts, and implement the Egypt 2030 Vision, said Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat. Al-Mashat also mentioned that the projects have been matched with the UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs), which reflects the Egyptian government's commitment to governance, transparency, environmental, and social standards, and the country's commitment to exceptional project formulation that opens up prospects for private sector participation and makes international institutions keen to launch their new initiatives from Cairo. The minister's remarks came during her meeting with Reta Jo Lewis — President of the Export-Import Bank of the US (EXIM) — on the side-lines of Al-Mashat's participation in the Spring Meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund in Washington. The meeting witnessed a discussion on cooperation between the Egyptian government and the bank and the role it plays in strengthening trade and investment relations between Egypt and the US, where the bank financed projects for the private sector with more than $5bn from 2009 to 2019. She stressed that EXIM can play a strong role in financing Egypt's private sector and motivate it to participate in more projects in response to the economic and structural reforms implemented by the state to open up prospects for private sector participation in development and mega projects being implemented in various sectors. Al-Mashat also reviewed the ongoing discussions carried out by her ministry on behalf of the government with development partners to promote innovative financing, stimulate risk reduction tools, encourage private sector participation in development in general, and enhance climate action efforts in particular, pointing out that during the past two years, the private sector has received $4.7bn in development finance from multilateral and bilateral development partners. Furthermore, she emphasised that the government is moving towards taking more facilities to increase the participation of the private sector and expand its role in achieving sustainable development and encouraging local and foreign investments through economic and structural reforms, which would improve the business environment, stressing that the role of the private sector is vital to achieve the 2030 Vision for Sustainable Development.
