Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat has met with Leslie Reed, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission Director for Egypt, to discuss the joint cooperation portfolio and progress in ongoing projects.
The discussions related to projects in various development sectors of importance to Egypt. During the meeting, the two sides also discussed the development cooperation strategy between Egypt and the US for the next five years (2021-2025).
The two sides reviewed the results of the technical meetings on areas of joint cooperation, and the promotion of private sector participation in development efforts as part of Egypt’s priorities.
Minister Al-Mashat expressed her appreciation of the role played by USAID’s Egypt office in facilitating discussions with its operations in Washington to explore new ways for supporting Egypt’s private sector.
For her part, Reed expressed her appreciation of the Egyptian government’s development efforts. She also lauded the role played by the Ministry of International Cooperation in bringing about a transformation in development endeavours, and setting a clear vision for international partnerships.
In 2020, the Ministry of International Cooperation and USAID signed seven grant agreements, worth $112.5m, to develop the country’s priority sectors. This will be reflected in an improvement in the conditions experienced by Egyptian citizens.
In October 2020, Minister Al-Mashat received former USAID President John Parsa on his first foreign visit to the region, where they discussed a joint cooperation strategy. During Parsa’s visit, the two sides also inspected the Flat6Labs business accelerator.
The close partnership between Egypt and USAID began in 1978. Since then, the total development cooperation portfolio has amounted to over $30bn in various sectors that represent a development priority for the Egyptian Government. These include health, population, education, and employment.
Meanwhile, the cooperation portfolio since 2014 has reached more than $900m, in priority projects. This includes education, higher education, governance, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), tourism, agriculture, and private sector support.
