Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat held a meeting with Ludger Schuknecht — the Vice President and Corporate Secretary of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank — to reaffirm commitment to cooperating in establishing climate-resilient infrastructure and smart cities.
The minister highlighted that the Egyptian government remains closely engaged with the investment policies and strategies of international development partners, financial institutions, and the private sector working under the vision of cooperative governance to align priorities, resources, and knowledge to implement more sustainable projects in Egypt.
The Ministry of International Cooperation’s country-led multi-stakeholder engagement framework unpacks two facets of collaboration — cooperation and coordination.
Under a strategic umbrella to scale up policies in all sectors, the framework aligns partners’ commitment and interests with national priorities as a key determinant of collaborative success. In the same vein, the ministry also pays attention to the critical role of coordination, which helps resolve gaps and challenges and ensures that all partners participate in all stages of a project’s life cycle.
Furthermore, the minister noted that the Egyptian government has embarked on a number of economic reforms that have contributed to an infrastructure boom over the past couple of years; and that over the next few years, it plans to introduce 38 new smart cities across the country.
However, the sustainability of these smart city projects relies on the integration of stakeholders’ interests and public-private partnerships and creating a supportive ecosystem through an efficient smart city platform that brings together development partners, investors, researchers, and other smart city actors together to reach Egypt’s energy and climate targets.
For his part, Schuknecht noted that he looks forward to engaging with the Egyptian government’s policies, as the country enjoys a large portfolio with the bank exceeding $1bn, which includes investments directed to the private sector.
