● · A diverse schedule for the Minister of International Cooperation and meetings with the leaders of the Bank and officials of European financial institutions and governments to advance bilateral relations.
● · Minister of International Cooperation: Our relationship with the EBRD is witnessing great development, coinciding with the upgrade of relations between Egypt and the European Union.
● · A special session on investment prospects in Egypt and the announcement that a number of Egyptian banks won awards from the EBRD
● · The Board of Governors discusses various topics, most notably the election of the bank’s president and discussion on the 2026-2030 strategy
The Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, participates in the 33rd session of the EBRD’s annual meetings held in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, under the slogan “Together For Impact.” The Minister of International Cooperation has been chosen as Vice-Chair of the meetings in the 2024 session.
This comes within the framework of the role played by the Ministry of International Cooperation to support and develop economic relations with multilateral and bilateral development partners. The meetings, which are being held over three days, include the senior leadership of the EBRD, led by Ms. Odile Renaud Basso, President of the Bank, and the Bank’s Board of Governors, in addition to a large group of CEOs participating in the Business Forum, representatives of development partners, and civil society from various countries of operations.
Al-Mashat stressed the importance of the current version of the meetings in light of the strategic development of the partnership between Egypt and the European Union and the announcement of the decision to further enhance relations strategically during the Egyptian-European Summit. The Minister pointed out that the EBRD is one of Egypt's main development partners since Egypt's transformation into a fully operational, especially at the level of supporting and empowering the private sector, as 80% of the bank's investment portfolio is directed to private sector companies in Egypt.
Al-Mashat indicated that, in light of this partnership and the development of relations with the European Union, the coming period will witness more joint cooperation in light of the joint country partnership 2022-2027.
The meetings witnessed the participation of Al-Mashat as Vice-Chairman of the meetings for the first time within the framework of the close relations between the two sides, as Egypt is one of the Bank’s largest countries of operations in the world.
The Minister of International Cooperation’s agenda includes many meetings and roundtable meetings as a reflection of the great development witnessed by Egyptian-European relations after the joint summit was held last March, and the signing of the declaration to raise the path of joint relations to the level of strategic partnership. The meetings will also witness the holding of a special session on investment prospects in Egypt and the announcement of a number of Egyptian banks winning EBRD awards.
The Minister is scheduled to participate in the annual donors’ meeting. She will also hold a discussion session with Mrs. Odile Renaud Basso, President of the Bank, and will also meet with officials of the European Investment Bank, as well as bilateral meetings with officials of the governments of Armenia and Romania. She will also participate in the governors’ meeting and in a key session on investment prospects in Egypt.
In another context, the bank’s Board of Governors is discussing many issues, most notably the election of the bank’s president for a second term, discussing the bank’s strategy for the period 2030-2026, in addition to increasing capital, and discussing expanding the bank’s operations in the Sub-Saharan Africa region by including new countries of operations.
It is worth noting that since 2012, with the EBRD, which contributed to the increase in the volume of investments for the government and private sectors to more than €12 billion in 174 projects, more than 80% of those funds were directed to the private sector.
The participation of the Minister of International Cooperation in the annual meetings of the European Bank comes after Cairo hosted the “IFC Day in Egypt”, as part of the visit of Mr. Sergio Pimenta, Vice President of the International Finance Corporation for the African region, where the Minister witnessed the signing of two agreements, the first with the Banque du Caire and IFC to support MSMES, and the second is a consulting services agreement with the Universal Health Insurance Authority (UHIA).