Mahmoud Mohieldin, the World Bank’s (WB) senior vice-president for the 2030 Development Agenda, UN Relations, and Partnerships, praised ‘Egypt 2030’ programme that the government implements, as part of its economic and administrative reforms.
“Egypt 2030 is a sustainable development programme linked to the 17 SDGs,” Mohieldin told reporters on the side-lines of the 25th annual conference of the Economic Research Forum (ERF) held in Kuwait. “Egypt’s programme is related to four indications, the first is economic growth and the extent of its inclusiveness; the second is social development and services such as education, health and social solidarity; the third is related to the environment and climate change, and the fourth relates to governance and economic management,” the economist said, adding that Egypt has voluntarily applied twice to revise its programme, the last time was in 2018.
Regarding growth, he pointed out that the 5% growth according to the national income is a good indicator-higher than the averages in the Middle East and North Africa-basing the reason to the population growth in Egypt, which makes it benefit from the income improvement and the function of the economy to serve society.
Answering the question “why has economic growth not reflected on normal citizens?” Mohieldin explained that local growth is more linked to the citizen’s normal life, adding that to reflect on the quality of life, it should be separately implemented in each governorate, through establishing private and public enterprises which provides job opportunities across the nation. He pointed out to the new roads and infrastructure underway, saying they will refresh the investment map.
Moreover, the economist praised Egypt’s awareness of the environmental problems and climate changes, which reflect the importance of community collaboration between the government, the private sector, and civil society. “There should be industries that can contribute to solving those problems, such as recycling plants, reducing carbonic emissions–which are one of the most dangerous points that should be considered,” he said.
“Egypt has taken steps towards governance, which means that every citizen has a unique number to use on both personal and professional levels,” Mohieldin said. He also stressed the importance of coordinating the public budget with community development programmes such as education, health, and social solidarity.
