Minister of International Cooperation and governor of Egypt at the World Bank, Dr. Rania Al Mashat, held a meeting with Mrs. Marina Weiss, Regional Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti at the World Bank, prior to the start of the annual meetings of the World Bank Board of Governors which is scheduled to start tomorrow, Thursday.
The annual meetings of the World Bank will witness a number of important events that include the participation of David Malpass, President of the World Bank Group, Kristalina Georgieva Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Axel Van Trotsenburg, Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank, and Stephanie von Friedeburg, Chief Operating Officer for IFC. EXTENDING PARTNERSHIP The meeting discussed extending the strategic partnership between Egypt and the World Bank; entering a new phase to expand the cooperation portfolio in a number of sectors and meet Egypt’s future development priorities. This partnership builds on the 2015-2019 Country Partnership Framework (CPF) between the World Bank and Egypt, which focuses on improving opportunities for private sector led job creation, social inclusion and improving governance. The extension will allow the World Bank Group to strengthen cooperation in new priority areas amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which include investing in human capital development, reduce debt burdens to attract effective investment and facilitate the changes needed for an inclusive and resilient recovery. STRENGTHENING ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY Focused on strengthening economic diplomacy, Al Mashat noted that the ministry of international cooperation is keen on enhancing dialogue, coordination and regular monitoring to drive economic recovery and foster trust between development partners and the government. This is achieved through three principles: regularly organizing multi-stakeholder platforms to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined and effectively coordinated; adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative People&Projects&Purpose (P&P&P); and mapping ODA financing to SDGs for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners. The current cooperation portfolio between Egypt and the World Bank Group amounts to around 8 billion dollars in a variety of sectors. Most recently, Al Mashat announced that the World Bank approved a new $200 million project to improve air quality, combat climate change, reduce emissions, and improve solid waste management in Greater Cairo.