Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Rania Al-Mashat, met with her new German counterpart, Reem Alabali-Radovan, on Tuesday to discuss strengthening partnership priorities, expanding development finance, and advancing debt-for-development swaps. The meeting took place during the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (Ff4D) in Seville, where a high-level Egyptian delegation is being led by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. The ministers emphasised the conference's importance in advancing global efforts to restructure the financial system and mobilise private sector investment. The discussions covered preparations for the 2025 joint governmental negotiations on economic cooperation and new tranches within the Egyptian-German debt swap programme. The bilateral economic cooperation portfolio between the two countries currently stands at 1.6 billion euros, funding projects in priority sectors such as energy, climate, water, and private sector competitiveness. Al-Mashat congratulated Alabali-Radovan on her new position in the government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz, stating that this new phase presented an opportunity to deepen the established bilateral relations. A key topic was the success of the debt swap programme, which began in 2011. A new tranche valued at 21 million euros (equivalent to 1.2 billion EGP) was recently signed to improve renewable energy supplies. Al-Mashat said the programme serves as a practical model for restructuring the global financial system and is managed through a governance structure to ensure optimal implementation. The ministers also reviewed the 2022 Financial Cooperation Agreement, valued at 118 million euros (6.7 billion EGP). The agreement includes support for establishing 25 specialised technical education centres and financing to connect wind energy stations to the national grid, part of the energy pillar of Egypt's "NWFE" country platform. Al-Mashat highlighted Germany's contribution of 258 million euros—comprising development finance, debt swaps, and grants—to the "NWFE" programme's energy projects, which was announced during the COP27 climate conference in
