Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met with Yamanaka Shinichi — Vice President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) — to discuss strengthening bilateral relations with the JICA to support efforts to achieve sustainable development in Egypt. They also discussed the axes of development cooperation between Egypt and the JICA, the development of ongoing projects, and cooperation in the field of climate action in light of Egypt's preparations to host the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP27). Al-Mashat highlighted that as part of the agenda for the COP27, there will be a day to discuss climate finance, which aims to push global efforts to move from pledges to implementation. The minister also spoke about the launch of the NWFE Programme, which includes a list of initial projects that the state aims to implement in the energy, food, and water sectors to promote climate action and support green development efforts. Furthermore, she emphasised the strategic development and cooperative relations with the JICA, which play an important role in supporting joint development efforts and promoting national plans to achieve sustainable development. Additionally, Al-Mashat explained that the next stage will witness more areas of cooperation within the framework of the state's development priorities, especially benefiting from the pioneering Japanese experience in the field of comprehensive health insurance in cooperation with a French partner and the World Bank Group, along with the second phase of the construction of the fourth line of the Cairo metro. She also looked forward to more joint action within the framework of increasing Japanese investments in the local market, especially in priority sectors, in a way that enhances the participation of the private sector in development. The minister explained that the development cooperation portfolio between the government and the JICA includes many diverse projects in various fields of development, and the coming period will witness many international partnerships with the Japanese side. The meeting also covered preparations for holding a policy dialogue between the ministry and the Japanese side next August with the participation of the Japanese ambassador and the acting director-general of the Middle East and Europe in the JICA within the framework of strengthening Egyptian-Japanese economic relations. For his part, the VP of the JICA said that the agency has supported many development sectors in Egypt — such as infrastructure, energy, and investment in human capital in the health sector — explaining that joint discussions focused on exploring the proposed cooperation axes in the field of climate action. It is worth noting that cooperation between Egypt and Japan began in 1954 and has led to much development in many diverse sectors. The current portfolio of economic cooperation between the two countries amounts to about $2.8bn to implement 14 projects, including health, electricity, transportation, navigation, education, higher education, and irrigation.
