Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat met with a high-level Ukrainian delegation, headed by Ihor Zhovkva, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine for International Relations.
The meeting took place in the presence of Ukraine’s Ambassador in Cairo Evhen Mikitenko, to outline a new path for 2021/22 cooperation.
Minister Al-Mashat underscored the strategic relationship between Egypt and Ukraine, and her country’s keenness to strengthen economic relations. This will take place through economic diplomacy to maintain and strengthen a development cooperation framework that aligns with national priorities and the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
She referred to her ministry’s principles of economic diplomacy to strengthen the ‘Global Partnerships for Effective Development’. The principles include regularly organising multi-stakeholder platforms, to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined to effectively coordinate on accelerating the pace of development for the achievement of the UN’s SDGs.
They also work towards adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative People&Projects&Purpose (P&P&P), and mapping ODA financing to the SDGs for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners.
The meeting discussed the two sides holding the eighth session of the Egyptian-Ukrainian Joint Committee for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in Cairo during the first quarter (Q1) of 2021. The session will include discussions on the cooperation in investment, trade, artificial intelligence (AI), manufacturing, entrepreneurship, river port development system, infrastructure, agriculture, and sustainable management of water and health.
The volume of the Egyptian-Ukrainian trade exchange during 2019 reached $2.6bn, ensuring that Egypt remains the Ukraine’s largest trading partner in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.
On 26 September, Minister Al-Mashat met with Mikitenko , to discuss the convening of the Egyptian-Ukrainian Joint Committee. The two sides also discussed methods of enhancing future areas of cooperation between the two countries, following the committee’s seventh session which was held during 2018.
The Egyptian-Ukrainian Joint Committee seeks to create the necessary legal framework for the advancement of bilateral cooperation relations between the two countries. It also looks to facilitate trade exchange, and foster stronger relations between the private sectors in the two countries.
