This came during the minister’s participation in the annual European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Bank (EBRD) meetings that were held virtually throughout this week. She noted that this should encourage more women to change the face of the male-dominated field of international organizations and to be appointed to high profile positions. Following her election, Ms Renaud-Basso said: “It is a great honour for me to have been elected as the new President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a truly unique institution. I wish to express my thanks to all the countries that supported my candidacy, with whom I have had numerous and fruitful exchanges in the past few months. I look forward to working with all shareholders, the management and the staff in the coming months, to implement the ambitious roadmap that was just agreed at the Annual Meeting.” Ms Renaud-Basso is a graduate of the Paris Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po), and an Ecole Nationale d’Administration alumnus. She was previously Director General at the French Treasury, overseeing the development of France’s economic policies, European and international financial affairs, trade policies, financial regulation and debt management. As representative of Egypt and governor of the EBRD, the minister participated in the annual meeting to discuss the bank’s new economic recovery plan for 2021-2025, which is an ambitious plan to expand climate investments and push for a green recovery. During the meetings, she noted that Egypt became the EBRD’s largest market for investment for the second year in a row, with the Bank’s investments reaching €1.2 billion in 23 projects, with 80% in the private sector. “Our portfolio with the EBRD is distributed evenly between sustainable infrastructure (52%), industry and agribusiness (26%), and financial institutions (22%), with a special focus on renewable energy, small and medium-sized enterprises, women in business, youth in business, energy efficiency, and credit lines,” she noted. She added that reform is a “continuous process”, and the government of Egypt is keen on implementing structural reforms to ensure that the country accelerates its path towards sustainable growth. “We entered the crisis with strong fiscal and foreign exchange buffers due to comprehensive reforms on taxes, budgets and foreign exchange that the country implemented over the years, which helped prepare Egypt in facing the crisis,” Al Mashat said.