● Egypt has launched comprehensive and impactful partnerships with the AIIB since its inception in 2016.

● The AIIB and the multilateral development banks play a pivotal role in providing and mobilizing capital and making stimulating financing tools available to the private sector.

● Al-Mashat calls on AIIB to provide financing for policies intended for transitioning to a green economy to member states in line with its climate strategy.

● The need to provide more investment guarantees and grants that stimulate partnerships between the government, private sectors and philanthropic organizations to provide development financing.

● Global challenges stress the need to expand the role of multilateral development banks to support developing countries.

● Equity in the distribution of funds is a pivotal factor in creating an effective and efficient global financial structure to implement SDGs.

● Egypt launched the “Sharm El Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing” to develop a roadmap for capital providers towards enhancing the efficiency of just climate finance.

The Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, delivers Egypt’s speech at the round table of the board of governors during the activities of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s (AIIB) annual meetings which is being held in Sharm El-Sheikh and for the first time in Africa. The meetings are held under the patronage of H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, where the Al-Mashat delivered her speech under the title “Meeting the Needs of Members – The Role of Multilateral Development Banks in Scaling Up Finance and AIIB’s Response.”

At the beginning of her speech, Al-Mashat welcomed the President of the AIIB, the Bank’s Board of Governors, and member states in the city of Sharm El-Sheikh at a time witnessing many economic challenges, in order to discuss issues, areas of common interest and building a comprehensive dialogue to develop a road map towards enhancing multilateral cooperation.

Al-Mashat indicated that the bank, since its establishment, has expanded its support for green, flexible and sustainable infrastructure sectors, and as a founding member from outside the continent of Asia, Egypt has launched comprehensive, strong and unique partnerships with the AIIB over a period of eight years. H.E. noted the close partnership with the bank in implementing water and energy projects, within the Nexus for Water, Food and Energy Platform, the NWFE program, which is a partnership that builds on the tireless efforts made since 2016. H.E. also thanked Jin Liqun, the AIIB President, and the teams for their diligent and joint work to advance development efforts in Egypt.

Al-Mashat stressed that the joint efforts since Egypt joined the bank and the alignment between the objectives of the AIIB, Egypt’s Vision 2030 and its sectoral strategies, have resulted in advancing the path of joint development towards compatibility with the Paris Climate Agreement through influential partnerships to promote sustainable development goals and climate action, explaining that the development cooperation portfolio is diversified in many areas and investments in the areas of water management, energy efficiency, sustainable transportation, and small and medium-sized companies.

H.E. continued, “Despite the efforts made in the field of international cooperation at the global level, the world’s economies in transition, as well as developing and emerging countries, are concerned about the global consecutive crises, which range from the unprecedented climate risks, rapid and volatile market dynamics, tight fiscal space, in addition to economic and political turbulence jeopardize the hard-won development gains of the past decade.”

Al-Mashat added that the AIIB plays a pivotal role alongside the multilateral development banks in providing and mobilizing the capital that developing and emerging countries are most in need of, not only at the level of providing soft development financing to governments but also making financing tools available and stimulating private sector investment.

Moreover, H.E. pointed out that justice in the distribution of funds is the pivotal factor for creating an effective and efficient global financial structure to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development. Therefore, Egypt has launched, among the initiatives that launched the presidency of COP27, and in cooperation with about 100 relevant entities, the Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing, with the aim of setting a clear definition and motivating principles for fair financing, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in a way that supports development paths and ensures that “no one is left behind.”

Al-Mashat continued, “Through just and innovative financing modalities, the unique capabilities and interests of different pools of capital can be unlocked to support, replicate and upscale impactful development and climate projects.”

H.E. called on the AIIB to provide financing for policies for transitioning to a green economy for member states, in line with its climate action strategy, which aims to be launched during the bank’s annual meetings in Sharm El-Sheikh to enhance efforts to combat climate change and mobilize capital to mitigate its effects to finance mitigation and adaptation projects.

Al-Mashat pointed out the importance of the bank’s expansion of investment guarantees and development grants, which stimulates countries’ efforts to achieve development efforts and alignment with climate action. At the same time, the H.E. stressed the importance of public- private- philanthropic partnerships in providing the required financing for developing countries and emerging economies.