Today, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly and Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania Al-Mashat.
The Spokesman for the Presidency, Counselor Ahmed Fahmy, said the meeting touched on national efforts to strengthen multilateral and bilateral cooperation frameworks through the activation of economic diplomacy, mainly supporting and empowering the private sector in Egypt.
Dr. Al-Mashat explained that soft loans worth $10.3 billion have been provided to the private sector in Egypt over the past four years in the form of financial and technical support.
President El-Sisi was briefed on the progress of the implementation of the "Hafiz" platform for financial and technical support for the private sector, which is the first integrated platform that connects development partners with the private sector. It includes a variety of services provided by development partners, whether at the level of financial support, technical support, investments, concessional development financing, and training and capacity-building programs.
The meeting also reviewed the most important aspects of the annual report of the Ministry of International Cooperation, Platforms for Policy and Practice, which includes the results of international partnerships with development partners and concessional development financing. It comes within the framework of the government's keenness to enhance the principles of transparency and governance within the framework of international cooperation and development financing.
The meeting also touched on the developments of the NWFE program, especially the results of the meeting between the government and representatives of international financial institutions and development partners to follow- up on the performance of the program. A joint statement was issued with development partners from the national platform for the NWFE program, which lauded the sectoral policies that the government has adopted to encourage the participation of the private sector in the platform, and the government's decision to update its Nationally Determined Contributions to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon development path. This is in addition to succeeding in the conclusion of a debt swap agreement with Germany to finance the energy axis of the program, while confirimg that NWFE platform is a practical model to be emulated in mobilizing climate investments on a large scale.
President El-Sisi gave directives to continue developing the frameworks of international cooperation in development projects, and to review them periodically to ensure that they meet the national needs and priorities. The President emphasized the importance of focusing on enhancing investment in human capital, as well as providing services and social protection fairly across the country. The President also stressed the fundamental role of the private sector in achieving comprehensive development in Egypt and the state's keenness to activate and support its role.