Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the World Bank Group, stressed the necessity of strengthening multilateral cooperation at the present time more than ever before.
She added that multilateral cooperation represents the utmost importance for low and middle-income countries, as well as emerging countries, which face high risks due to the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
This came during her participation in the ministerial meeting of the Group of 24, which includes the governors of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which was held virtually within the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. The event witnessed the participation of David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, and Cristalina Georgieva, Director General of the International Monetary Fund.
Minister Al-Mashat called on international financial institutions to reformulate financing strategies in order to provide more blended financing tools as well as green financing tools, and to facilitate conditions for development financing, which represents an incentive for different countries to recover from the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic at all levels.
She added that global crises always require global solutions. Therefore, the current time is the most appropriate time to establish multilateral cooperation that works to promote development worldwide, and to form an economic and social system that brings together the relevant parties, based on communication, dialogue, transparency and meaningful partnerships that achieve the goals of sustainable development and are positively reflected on the conditions of citizens in all countries of the world.
In the same context, Minister Al-Mashat touched on the resilience shown by the Egyptian economy during the past year in the face of the effects of the pandemic, and its ability to achieve growth despite the shrinkage of most of the region’s economies, pointing out that Egypt is moving forward with implementing economic and structural reforms, and taking vigorous steps towards transitioning to a green and sustainable economy, and working to build better through flexibility, innovation, equal opportunities, and digitisation.
