● The mission’s agenda includes a number of meetings and interviews with relevant ministries and national authorities to hold comprehensive discussions.
● Dr. Rania Al-Mashat: Cooperation with the European Union comes within a complementary framework with the World Bank and the United Kingdom to enhance economic and structural reform policies and support the macroeconomy.
Within the framework of the strategic partnership between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the European Union, following the signing by H.E. President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, last March, of the joint political declaration to launch the path of upgrading relations to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership, the Ministry of International Cooperation is working to coordinate between various national bodies and the European Union, to discuss the mechanism of macroeconomic support and budget support in order to support the economic and structural reforms undertaken by the state.
In this regard, a technical mission from the European Union begins a visit to Egypt today, which will continue today and tomorrow, where the mission will hold meetings with a number of national authorities and relevant ministries.
H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, is scheduled to receive the members of the mission, where a session of bilateral discussions will be held. The Ministry’s headquarters in the New Administrative Capital will also host joint meetings between the mission, the Ministries of Finance, Social Solidarity, and representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers, with the participation of various relevant parties.
The mission's agenda also includes meetings with national entities represented by the Ministries of Environment, Finance, Electricity, Labor, Planning, Trade and Industry, and the Central Bank.
H.E. Al-Mashat said that these meetings reflect the strategic and comprehensive partnership to achieve common strategic interests, as well as the great development of Egyptian-European relations, explaining that the economic discussions with the European side complement the efforts made and the Egyptian partnership with other development partners such as the World Bank and the United Kingdom and others, in order to maximize these partnerships to support the economic and structural reform efforts undertaken by Egypt.
It is worth noting that the historic summit hosted in Cairo last March included the announcement of a financing package to support the Egyptian economy from the European Union worth €7.4 billion.
The Minister of International Cooperation had participated within the Egyptian delegation in the tenth meeting of the Association Council between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the European Union, in Brussels, where H.E. launched the report “A Shared Development Vision for Progress and Prosperity,” to review the distinguished cooperation with the initiative’s institution from 2020-2023 and to prepare for future cooperation on topics of common interest between the two sides.
In confirmation of these relations, international partnerships with the Team Europe initiative, through soft financing, amounted to approximately $12.8 billion for the government and private sectors over 4 years, with $7.3 billion for the government sector and $5.5 billion in financing for the private sector, which resulted in attracting investments by European companies in related priority sectors. These funds were directed to priority sectors throughout the country, led by sustainable infrastructure, renewable energy and electricity, food security, health and education, sustainable transportation, water and sanitation networks, small, medium and micro enterprises, environment, solid waste management, women empowerment, and other programs.