This comes within the country-led engagement framework held by the Ministry of International Cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners to periodically follow up on the progress of ongoing partnerships and strategies, which is in line with presidential directives to optimize the value of development cooperation along two dimensions: social-environmental and financial-economic through bolstering Egypt’s economic and sustainable development, enhancing role of the private sector, as well as improving infrastructure and investing in human capital through the “Decent Life” initiative.

The private sector is a critical player in the climate action space. Cooperating with global partners, the Ministry of International Cooperation is stepping up the role of private sector finance to drive climate action through blended finance. The meeting discussed future roadmaps between Egypt and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to promote the private sector in development through ESG principles, as well as preparations for the Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR), which will help Egypt align climate action and development. The Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, underlined that environmental analysis and adaptation frameworks integrate climate change risks into existing development priorities to assist decision makers to identify responsive strategies to changes in climate. In light of Egypt’s preparations to host the UN Climate Conference COP27, the meeting discussed cooperation with the World Bank in this regard, which include financing for climate action, enhancing technical support and spurring knowledge exchange, in addition to organizing events and activities that push towards the integration of climate action with all SDG development goals. For her part, Ayat Soliman, Regional Director for the World Bank’s Sustainable Development Department for the Middle East and North Africa, referred to the ongoing consultations between all technical teams from the World Bank, the Ministry of International Cooperation, and other relevant authorities, to coordinate priorities in order to ensure complementarity among national and global objectives. Layali Abdeen, Senior Investment Guarantee Officer at MIGA said that the agency held meetings with private sector companies to enhance partnerships and unlock opportunities for the private sector to participate in development projects, with one success story being the Benban solar park, which involved a hundred Egyptian private companies and created around 640 jobs besides 18,000 temporary ones. Notes for the Editors: Egypt’s development cooperation portfolio with the World Bank amounts to a total of $5.5 billion in 15 projects that target a diversity of sectors such as transportation, education, housing, health, social protection, petroleum, water and sanitation, and environment. In addition, the International Finance Corporation, the arm of the World Bank Group for financing the private sector, directed in 2021 development financing worth $421 million to the private sector in Egypt.