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  • Monday, 17 July 2023

To enhance the country's priorities and development strategies; Enhancing Egypt’s Priorities & Development Strategies, the Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat & Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Mr. Oka Hiroshi Co-chair High-Level Policy Dialogue to Increase Cooperation Efforts Between Both Countries in 2023

● The Minister of International Cooperation: The High-Level Policy Dialogue is a platform for strategic discourse and an important mechanism for emplacing a strategy for development cooperation between the two countries.

● The dialogue praised the results achieved at the level of bilateral partnerships to support development efforts in the areas including universal health insurance and sustainable infrastructure.

● The Japanese Ambassador: “We appreciate the initiative of the Minister of International Cooperation to hold a policy dialogue, and we are looking forward to strengthening joint cooperation to advance development efforts and stimulate the private sector.”

On Sunday, July 16, 2023, the Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, and Mr. OKA Hiroshi, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, hold the second meeting of the Egypt-Japan High-Level Policy Dialogue for development cooperation at the headquarters of the Ministry of International Cooperation in the New Administrative Capital in light of following up on the development of joint relations and discussing future cooperation opportunities.

The importance of the Egypt-Japan High-Level Policy Dialogue is highlighted, as it has become a platform for strategic dialogue between the Egyptian and Japanese governments and a national mechanism to be followed with various multilateral and bilateral development partners to develop strategies for future development cooperation in line with the priorities of the Egyptian and Japanese governments and the financing policies of development partners, with the participation of representatives of the  Egyptian government representing various national bodies in the government.

The Minister of International Cooperation welcomed the senior officials, representatives of the Embassy of Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), and representatives of various Egyptian ministries, namely the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Civil Aviation, Education, Housing, Tourism and Antiquities, Health, the Suez Canal Authority, the Cairo Opera House, the Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology, and representative of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The two sides praised the important achievements made in 2022/2023, including the signing of the Exchange of Notes on the Greater Cairo Metro Line No.4 and E/N on the Development Policy Loan to support Universal Health Coverage, and the Japanese government's provision of a grant for the project of "Enhancing Food Security through Improving Agricultural Productivity" to be implemented through Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the opening of the outpatient clinics project of the Cairo University Specialized Pediatric Hospital - Abu El-Rish funded by a Japanese grant, as part of the comprehensive development and modernization processes taking place in Cairo University hospitals, which contributes to the advancement of the health system and the upgrading of the level of medical services provided to citizens.       

The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, welcomed representatives from the Japanese side and national partners, stating that the Government of Egypt values its historic partnership with Japan through shared development goals. H.E. noted that the High-Level Policy Dialogue provided an opportunity for the exchange of opinions and experiences, and enables both sides to identify shared development priorities, referring to the recent visit of the Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio to Cairo, which marked a turning point in the bilateral relations between the two countries, as the two leaders agreed to upgrade the relationship to a Strategic Partnership. Dr. Al-Mashat added that the Policy Dialogue is an opportunity to reflect and reaffirm this Strategic Partnership by formulating a joint strategy for development cooperation policies that reflects the evolution of relations between the two countries.

Ambassador Oka appreciated the initiative taken by Minister Al Mashat to hold the second High-Level Policy Dialogue, and gave a review of policy development for the past year, including TICAD8 (8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development), COP27, New Plan for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP), Prime Minister Kishida’s visit to Egypt, G7 Hiroshima Summit, and the revision of Japan’s Development Cooperation Charter. He then introduced concrete priority areas: “investment in people” in education and health sectors; “quality growth” through green transition and quality infrastructure development; and regional stability through trilateral cooperation and joint work with partner countries. Ambassador Oka also highlighted the importance of private sector mobilization with Japan’s strength in technology and finance for the development of Egypt.

Mr. KATO Ken, Chief Representative of JICA Egypt Office, explained JICA’s cooperation with Egypt, focusing on thematic cooperation areas such as climate change action taking into account the NWFE initiative led by the Government of Egypt, as well as industrial development contributing to the growth and resilience of Egyptian domestic industries.

Mr. ISEKI Yusuke, Resident Executive Officer, Regional Head for EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) of JBIC emphasized JBIC’s interest in providing financial support to assist Japanese companies for expanding their business through direct investment in Egypt, and export to Egypt. JBIC will continue to strengthen the partnership between JBIC and the Government of Egypt, as represented by the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of International Cooperation in April 2023.

Ms. SHIOKAWA Yuko, Director of JETRO Cairo, introduced JETRO's activities to promote Japanese investment in strategic industries in Egypt, including renewable energy, healthcare, and startups.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides stressed the importance of continuous and effective coordination between the two countries to continue on the path of success and for the ongoing projects to become important national projects implemented on the ground, such as the “Grand Egyptian Museum” project, the “Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology” and the “Egypt-Japan School project.” The two sides stressed the continuation of efforts to strengthen joint cooperation relations and work together to prepare a strategy for joint cooperation between the two countries.