Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat, met with Marina Weiss, Regional Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti at the World Bank, to discuss the strategic partnership between Egypt and the World Bank.
The meeting took place prior to the start of the international organisation’s annual meetings of its Board of Governors which is scheduled to start on Thursday.
The annual meetings of the World Bank will witness a number of important events that include the participation of President of the World Bank Group David Malpass; Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva; as well as Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Axel Van Trotsenburg, Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank; and Stephanie von Friedeburg, Chief Operating Officer for the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Extending Partnerships
The meeting discussed extending the strategic partnership between Egypt and the World Bank, to enter a new phase to expand the cooperation portfolio in a number of sectors and meet Egypt’s future development priorities.
This partnership builds on the 2015-2019 Country Partnership Framework (CPF) between the World Bank and Egypt. The framework focuses on improving opportunities for private sector led job creation, social inclusion and improving governance.
The extension will allow the World Bank Group to strengthen cooperation in new priority areas amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19 pandemic). This includes investing in human capital development, reducing debt burdens to attract effective investment, and facilitating the changes needed for an inclusive and resilient recovery.
Strengthening Economic Diplomacy
Focused on strengthening economic diplomacy, Minister Al-Mashat noted that her ministry is keen on enhancing dialogue, coordination and regular monitoring. These would be put in place to drive economic recovery and foster trust between development partners and the government.
This is achieved through three principles: regularly organising multi-stakeholder platforms to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined and effectively coordinated; adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative through People&Projects&Purpose (P&P&P); and mapping ODA financing to the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners.
The current cooperation portfolio between Egypt and the World Bank Group amounts to around $8bn in a variety of sectors. Most recently, the Egyptian minister announced that the World Bank approved a new $200m project to improve air quality, combat climate change, reduce emissions, and improve solid waste management in Greater Cairo.
