H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation and Chair of the Board of Trustees of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), met with the institute's leaders and its affiliated centers and units. H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat also inspected the National Center for Spatial Data Infrastructure as part of monitoring the work of the ministry's affiliated entities. The meeting was attended by Dr. Sherifa Sherif, the institute's Executive Director, Dr. Heba Zaki, Director of the Egypt Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Dr. Asmaa Ezzat, Director of the Governance Center, and other institute leaders.
H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat emphasized that the integration of the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation is part of the new government's direction to achieve integration in managing the economic file at the state or macroeconomic level and enhance the effectiveness of public spending.
H.E. Minister Al-Mashat explained that the ministry has announced a framework aimed at achieving sustainable economic growth through designing a comprehensive strategy for economic development based on data-driven and evidence-based policies to address development gaps in various sectors, mobilize domestic and foreign financing for sustainable development through an integrated national financing strategy that enhances resource allocation to priority sectors, stimulates private sector investments, and accelerates progress towards achieving development goals.
H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat highlighted the role of the ministry in leading the Ministerial Group for Entrepreneurship, which aims to provide full support to startups and the entrepreneurship community in Egypt to stimulate their contribution to economic activity and innovative development solutions. H.E. added that the group works on consolidating various initiatives by government entities to achieve integration and coordination and maximize their benefits.
During her visit, Al-Mashat listened to a presentation by Dr. Sherifa Sherif, the institute's Executive Director, on the NIGSD’s activities in training, research, and consultancy. She noted the various training initiatives and programs offered by the institute to different sectors and groups, including children, youth, and women, as well as international partnerships with prestigious universities and training institutes locally and internationally to provide high-quality training content. This is in line with the institute's mission to enhance and develop Egypt's position in governance and sustainable development by providing consultations, research, and training programs that promote sustainability values, practices, and governance mechanisms. She noted that the institute has trained 124,000 trainees over 4 years.
She also highlighted the institute's role in monitoring, evaluating, and assessing Egypt's status in governance, sustainable development, and local, regional, and international competitiveness indicators to develop plans and mechanisms to improve Egypt's performance in those indicators. The institute's vision is to support and enhance the development of sound governance systems to achieve competitiveness and sustainable development.
The Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation also listened to a presentation from Dr. Heba Zaki, Director of the Egypt Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, about the center's activities, events, and programs for youth and entrepreneurs. She highlighted the launch of the center's dedicated online platform to serve as a gateway for entrepreneurs, decision-makers, and investors. The center's e-learning platform was also activated on the same platform, offering over 72 training programs in four languages: Arabic, English, French, and sign language. The center has also launched pre-incubation programs in sustainable fashion, biotechnology, and fourth-generation digital transformation industries, and currently, the Blue Economy and Financial Technology programs, in addition to idea generation camps in which youth from all governorates participate. She mentioned that the center has been accredited by the University of Missouri in the United States as a certified educational center in providing entrepreneurship and innovation services.
During her visit to the National Center for Spatial Data Infrastructure, H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat directed the utilization of the center's capabilities to enhance the effectiveness of the Egyptian planning system and integrate with various sectors of the ministry to strengthen the implementation and monitoring of investment plan projects.
Engineer Mohamed Abdel Azim, Acting Executive Director of the National Center for Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) for the Egyptian planning system, presented the center's efforts in building and providing an integrated spatial information infrastructure for the Egyptian government using the latest technologies and advanced satellite imaging and applications, aerial imaging to produce unified basic maps for the state, and reports on spatial variables.
H.E. Minister Al-Mashat also inspected the center's efforts in developing government services, supporting digital transformation policies and files, which contributed to implementing the development of government services, developing means of delivering government services, and developing the information infrastructure of the Egyptian planning system in terms of important state databases, as well as providing social media applications and platforms and evaluating government services. H.E. also learned about the center's role in mobile technology centers and Egypt's service centers that provide various services to citizens, such as civil status, real estate registration, traffic services, and others.