● H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation: The successive global crises have exacerbated the financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
● There is a need to develop constructive solutions to address the escalating debt crisis since the pandemic and to mobilize financing to complete the development process.
● Strengthening multilateral development banks and increasing the efficiency and financing is necessary to support inclusive growth in middle-income and least-developed countries.
The Minister of International Cooperation and Governor of Egypt at the World Bank Group (WBG) H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat participated in the round table organized by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Open Society Foundations, within the activities of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings in Washington, to discuss multilateral development bank reforms, the escalating global debt crisis, development efforts and climate action.
In her speech, Al-Mashat stressed that the world is going through unprecedented challenges that require reforming the development financing landscape to address economic challenges through effective solutions. H.E. pointed out that there is an urgent need to mobilize financing to support the sustainable development implementation agenda and to address the gap in development financing, which reached over $3.7 trillion due to the Russian-Ukrainian war and the COVID-19 pandemic.
She also stressed the importance of developing constructive and effective solutions to confront the escalating debt crisis since the pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war, pointing to the estimates of Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which suggested that debt service rates in developing countries between 2020 and 2025 would reach an average of $375 billion, which undermines the development process in these countries.
Al-Mashat stated that the successive crises that the world has been going through since the beginning of 2020 had caused a rise in poverty rates as a result of reduced development efforts and pressures on the lowest-income classes, as the number of people living below the poverty line in 2021 was estimated at 77 million people. This suggests that efforts made over a decade to achieve the SGDs for poverty eradication are insufficient to meet all these challenges. H.E. added that moving forward in achieving the SDGSs requires saving about $4.3 trillion annually.
Moreover, the Minister refered to the "Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing", which was prepared among many partners, including philanthropic organizations, development partners and the private sector to encourage them to support the climate action agenda, by defining the main role of each of the stakeholders in investments.
H.E. also explained Egypt’s Country Platform for the Nexus of Water, Food and Energy (NWFE Program) which applies the practical principles presented in the "Sharm El-Sheikh Guidebook for Just Financing", by identifying a number of projects in the water, food and energy sectors, to mobilize climate investments and various financing mechanisms to support efforts to transition to a green economy in Egypt.
Al-Mashat stressed the importance of strengthening and reforming multilateral development banks to enhance the efficiency and volume of financing available to middle and low-income countries, in order to promote inclusive growth, reduce poverty rates, and improve resilience to climate change. Additionally, the Minister pointed to the importance of multilateral development banks developing efforts to mobilize financial resources, and enhance cooperation with governments to mobilize more private sector investment, local resources, innovative financing tools and reduce risks.
Under the theme “The Way Forward: Building Resilience and Reshaping Development,” Al-Mashat is participating in the World Bank & IMF Spring Meetings, along with the participation of central bank governors, finance ministers, development partners, senior officials from the private sector, philanthropic organizations and academic, to discuss issues of global concern.