Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat announced that seven development financing grant agreements were signed with the US through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), worth $125m.
This comes within the framework of the joint economic relations between Egypt and the US. This took place with the participation of the US Ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen and the Mission Director of the USAID Egypt, Leslie Reed.
During her speech, Minister Al-Mashat highlighted the depth and significance of the bilateral relations between Egypt and the US across various sectors. She referred to the seven agreements’ role in stimulating the government’s efforts in developing the sectors of basic education, higher education, science and technology, agriculture, health, economic governance, trade and investment, in addition to $5m allocated for combating the repercussions of the coronavirus.
The signed agreements allocate $17m to the sector of basic education; $31m to the US-Egypt Higher Education Initiative (HEI); $4m to US-Egyptian cooperation in the sector of science and technology; $27m to economic governance; $5m to agriculture and rural development; and $28m to bolstering trade and investment in Egypt.
She further noted that the partnership with the USAID pushes forward the private sector’s engagement in the development and stimulates its role across various sectors. This is done through supporting SMEs, and encouraging entrepreneurship, under the umbrella of the “Trade and Investment Promotion in Egypt” agreement.
For his part, US Ambassador to Egypt, Jonathan Cohen said, “I am pleased to announce today $125m in economic assistance from the United States to Egypt. This is part of the US government’s $30bn investment in Egypt over the last 40 years, which has brought clean water and wastewater services to 25 million Egyptians, eliminated polio, built 2,000 schools, and provided 4,000 university scholarships.”
USAID Mission Director, Leslie Reed stated that the seven agreements being celebrated reinforce the strategic partnership between the United States and Egypt and the tremendous impact that the joint efforts have on Egyptians.
Since 2014, the cooperation portfolio with the USAID had reached about $900m in implementing priority projects in education, higher education, governance, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), tourism, agriculture and the private sector. The total development cooperation portfolio between Egypt and the USA since 1978, amounts to over $30bn covering various sectors that represent development priorities for the Government of Egypt.
