The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat discussed areas of joint cooperation, development partnerships, and future projects with Flavia Palanza, the Director of Operations for Neighboring Countries at the European Investment Bank (EIB); all within the new 2021/2027 cooperation strategy. This took place in the presence of Alfredo Abad, Regional Representative at the EIB in Egypt. This comes within the framework of the period meeting held by Al-Mashat, with multilateral and bilateral development partners, to develop and strengthen economic relations between Egypt and its partners, in order to advance the national development agenda that is consistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). During the meeting, Al-Mashat discussed ongoing projects in the transportation sector worth €1.13 billion, which was signed last December, alongside future projects that will be implemented in the sanitation and transportation sectors. They also addressed potential areas of cooperation in health, higher education, and agriculture. The talks touched on the Team Europe Initiative, an initiative by the European Commission, to mobilize funds from the European Commission and European financing institutions to implement development projects with grants and soft loans covering water, food security, transportation, rehabilitation of roads, and electricity networks, among other things. Al-Mashat applauded the partnership between Egypt and EIB which supports the country’s national development strategy for 2030, that is in accordance with the UN SDGs, by providing development funds for priority projects across sectors. Al-Mashat also referred to the Ministry’s efforts in strengthening economic relations with multilateral and bilateral development partners in a way that supports Egypt’s development agenda, and to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs, stressing that there is less than a decade left until 2030. Therefore, there is a need to maximize economic relations and streamline the development efforts amid the multilateral and bilateral partners in order to achieve the sustainability goals. Palanza also praised the efforts made by the Ministry of International Cooperation to coordinate and boost relations between development partners and national entities, as this is reflected in the implementation of development projects across the country. The ongoing development cooperation portfolio with EIB amounts to €3.27 billion to finance several projects in the sectors of transportation, water and sanitation, energy, environment, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and civil aviation.