Al-Mashat said that the ministry’s mandate comes within the framework of the third strategic objective of the government’s program
for economic development and raising the efficiency of performance.
She noted that the first major program of this goal is concerned with providing the necessary financing resources to implement the government’s development program. The role of the Ministry of International Cooperation is to maximize the benefits of facilitated international development financing opportunities and grants in financing development projects.
She added that the Mandate of the Ministry of International Cooperation, issued by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Egypt No.303 of 2004, clearly defines the objectives and tasks of the ministry. The first is develop and strengthen the economic cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and other countries as well as international and regional organizations, the second is to propose the criteria for obtaining external financing; both funds and grants, the third is to follow-up and monitor ministries and national agencies that benefit from foreign financing within the framework of the general economic policy of the country to ensure achieving the economic development goals, and the fourth is to manage Egypt’s economic relations with international organizations of economic cooperation, the international financial institutions and specialized agencies of the United Nations.
The Principles of Economic Diplomacy
Al-Mashat explained that the ministry, through Economic Diplomacy, is pushing forward with cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners based on three main principles. The first principle is through regularly organizing Multi-Stakeholder Platforms to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined and effectively aligned with the national agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The main objective of the platform is to strengthen partnerships for achieving value-centric results through regular interactive and participatory consultations with all development partners in order to accelerate the pace of development financing programs to achieve the SDGs, and to discuss challenges and how to overcome them. The second principle is mapping ODA financing to SDGs for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners. The Ministry of International Cooperation, during the past year, and for the first time, mapped the ongoing development projects with its respective development financing to be able to identify priorities and what has been achieved towards the SDGs. There are more than 377 ongoing projects, totaling $25.662 billion in the ministry’s development cooperation portfolio. The third principle is adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative People & Projects & Purpose (P&P&P). Through People at the Core, Projects in Action, and Purpose as the Driver, Egypt’s development stories are promoted and highlighted to showcase successful cooperation.
The International Context for Development Cooperation in 2020
Al-Mashat stated that the global economy was faced with a major crisis in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This caused an increase in the financing gap for the implementation of development projects and a decrease in the global facilitated development financing by 8%, but the Ministry of International Cooperation was able, through Economic Diplomacy, to keep Egypt’s economic growth on the right track. Commitment to charting progress towards the sustainable development goals helped the ministry secure $9.8 billion in development financing since January 2020 that meet various targets by 2030, from multilateral and bilateral development partners. Development financing of about $6.7 billion were secured for financing sovereign projects presenting 67.7% of the portfolio total and the private sector with a value of $3.1 billion holding 32.3%. This reflects the government’s commitment to strengthening the participation of the private sector in development efforts.