The Minister of International Cooperation, H.E Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, met with Ambassador Tariq Ali Faraj Al-Ansari, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to Egypt, as part of the periodic meetings she holds with multilateral and bilateral development partners to enhance joint development efforts and advance and develop economic relations in light of the state’s development vision.

During the meeting, Al-Mashat discussed strengthening joint Egyptian-Qatari relations in light of the relations that bind the two countries. H.E. stressed the appreciation of the Arab Republic of Egypt for the joint relations between the two brotherly countries and its keenness to advance and develop these relations in a way that achieves common interests, enhances development efforts, and meets aspirations.

Al-Mashat touched on the role played by the Ministry of International Cooperation to strengthen joint relations through the principles of economic diplomacy of the Arab Republic of Egypt, which aims to maximize the economic and social benefit from development financing, ensure the consistency of development projects with national priorities and sustainable development goals, and improve the management of development cooperation to implement projects effectively, to implement the SDGs.

H.E. pointed to the Ministry's efforts in cooperation with development partners to provide concessional development financing and technical support to the government and private sectors and to diversify joint cooperation programs to meet the country's development requirements, pointing to the importance of cooperation and programs implemented between development partners and the private sector, to enhance private sector investments in various development sectors.

H.E. stated that the Ministry of International Cooperation launched the Private Sector Engagement Portal for financial and technical support for the private sector, which is considered an integrated platform that connects development partners, agencies, the government, and the local business community, to enhance communication and linking between various private sector companies, whether large companies, or small and medium and micro companies, investment funds, or local financial institutions, to benefit from development financing, technical support, and consultations.

Al-Mashat noted that this platform comes to integrate with the government’s ongoing measures to enhance the private sector’s participation in development, as it is a major driver of comprehensive and sustainable growth, and the greatest supporter of the labor market by creating more employment opportunities in various fields H.E. pointed out that over the past four years, international partners have provided approximately $10.3 billion in financing, whether in the form of development financing or investments to the private sector, in addition to technical support.

H.E. also pointed to the ongoing efforts to enhance the transition to a green economy through the NWFE program, the link between water, food and energy projects, which includes various projects in the fields of mitigation and adaptation to climate change and is being implemented in cooperation with many major development partners, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the African Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.