Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat and Oka Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, signed letters of mutual assistance to finance the Universal Health Insurance Project worth ¥44bn ($330m). Al-Mashat explained that the Universal Health Insurance Project strengthens the Government of Egypt's efforts to develop healthcare services and enhance their quality for all citizens, especially those with low income, and provides support for the e-service system to implement the project in a number of hospitals and medical centers in the governorates of Port Said, Damietta, Ismailia, and Luxor. The Minister applauded the relations with the Japanese side and the efforts made in various fields of development in light of the country's vision and priorities for implementing the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and its national vision, which is to develop healthcare services for citizens and mobilize resources to implement the health project. Al-Mashat stressed the importance of international partnerships and cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners in supporting development efforts at all levels, explaining that the Ministry of International Cooperation had held a joint multi-stakeholder platform for the health sector since 2020 with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic to coordinate joint work and integrate efforts between development partners and national bodies to put the state priorities into practice and mobilize efforts to achieve maximum benefit from development cooperation. She also stated that Egypt is working to mobilize financing mechanisms from various development partners, and over the past period, a development financing agreement worth $582 million for the universal health insurance project was signed with $400 million from the World Bank Group, and $182 million from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to support the budget to promote the implementation of the health project. For his part, Ambassador Hiroshi expressed that Japanese cooperation is focused on each individual and will continue to support the efforts of the Government of Egypt to achieve universal health coverage, so that all Egyptian citizens can access high-quality healthcare services at affordable prices. He added that during the official visit of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to Japan in 2016, the two leaders affirmed that they would work together to achieve universal health coverage in Egypt, with mutual support to fulfill this commitment.
