Egypt's Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, has initiated a series of meetings with the private sector to enhance collaboration and investment opportunities in key development areas. The first meeting, titled Business Roundtable for Innovation, Development & Government Engagement (BRIDGE), focused on the youth and sports sector. The BRIDGE series aims to improve communication between the government, private sector, and international development partners to support sustainable development. Al-Mashat explained that these meetings, which will focus on various sectors, are intended to identify potential projects and foster partnerships between the public and private sectors. The goal is to leverage various funding mechanisms from development partners, including public-private partnerships, blended finance, development financing, grants, and investment guarantees. "These meetings will help us develop a list of projects and enhance technical communication with relevant entities to reach constructive partnerships and collaboration opportunities between the public and private sectors," said Al-Mashat. Al-Mashat highlighted the government's plan to develop a competitive economy reliant on private investments to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth. She outlined the strategic opportunities identified by the government to enhance private sector involvement in developing Egypt's priority sectors, including joint investment opportunities and initiatives that could benefit from corporate social responsibility programs and other collaboration mechanisms. Al-Mashat stressed the government's commitment to creating a more attractive investment environment, facilitating private sector involvement in development, enhancing human capital, and promoting innovation and technological advancement. These efforts include aligning private sector initiatives with national strategies, enhancing public-private collaboration and policy coherence, and supporting development efforts through innovative approaches. "The private sector possesses financial resources, knowledge, innovative thinking, and efficiency essential for driving sustainable development and economic growth," said Al-Mashat. She emphasized the importance of youth as a key driver of economic and social growth, highlighting that they represent 58% of the total population. The government is focused on investing in youth through infrastructure development, capacity building, sports for development, and learning and employment opportunities. Al-Mashat also highlighted several initiatives undertaken by the ministry to empower youth, encourage investment, and promote innovation, including the Egyptian version of the UN initiative "Shabab Balad," as well as the Hub for Advisory, Finance & Investment for Enterprises platform. The first BRIDGE meeting was attended by approximately 50 private sector representatives from companies such as Decathlon Egypt, Mintra, Meta, SAP, Kraft, Shell, Henkel, and the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, along with representatives from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the National Training Academy, the UN Generation Unlimited Initiative, the Public-Private Partnership Central Unit at the Ministry of Finance, and UNICEF Egypt.
