Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr affirmed that the ministry is working on receiving the needed financing for developing national development projects in their targeted timeframes, according to a statement from the ministry on Monday.
For this to be achieved, the ministry is forming an urgent plan for strengthening cooperation with its partners in development from various countries, the statement added.
Further, the minister will be participating in World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings that will take place in Peru, from 9-11 October of this year.
Nasr will hold talks with Egypt’s partners in development, whether they are institutions that provide grant or international financing organizations. She will invite them to participate in funding needed projects for supporting the Egyptian economy.
The statement further indicated that Nasr began holding condensed meetings with sector heads and seniors in the ministry to complete the previous work agenda and develop it according to current needs.
Nasr accepted her new position on Saturday in the new Egyptian government headed by Prime Minster Sherif Ismail, succeeding Naglaa Al-Ahwani.
Al-Ahwani told the Daily News Egypt earlier this month that Egypt completed negotiations with the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) officials for the issuance of a declaration this September to turn Egypt into a country of operations. The step will contribute to increasing EBRD’s financing portfolio in Egypt to €2bn, compared to the current amount of €1bn.
Furthermore, a new four-year agreement is now being negotiated with the World Bank, according to previous statements by Al-Ahwani. This agreement will fund a number of infrastructure projects in Egypt, which are currently being studied in coordination with the bank.
There are ongoing negotiations with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to secure a loan of approximately $400m, as a second stage to finance the Grand Egyptian Museum.
The government is further seeking to increase cooperation with the French Development Agency (AFD) in the coming months.
