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  • Tuesday, 22 December 2020
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Towards a Great Reset: Ministry of International Cooperation Outlines the Key Role of Multilateralism for Sustainable Post COVID-19 Recovery in 2020 Annual Report

Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, highlighted during the launch of the 2020 Annual Report the key role of multilateralism and inclusive economic policies for a sustainable recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

In a chapter titled, ‘From the Great Lockdown to the Great Reset’, Ministry of International Cooperation participated in the closing session of the World Economic Forum summit titled ‘Global Closing Moment on Resetting Cooperation.” The session outlined the role of multilateralism in bringing together stakeholders from governments, business and civil society to create new forms of cooperation to tackle COVID-19 and build back greener. On strengthening multilateralism, the summit outlined pathways for greater global cohesion and governance in order to design integrated policies that can create a resilient and sustainable post COVID-19 world. Global partnerships working through multilateral frameworks can still be extremely effective, Al-Mashat stated, referring to the example of Egypt’s partnership with Ministry of Agriculture and the World Food Programme to support 60 villages to implement a small-scale circular economy that consolidates land and water use and has shifted from diesel to solar power – a project that will now be scaled up to 500 villages. To ensure greater cohesion and more effective global governance and cooperation, the report underlines the necessity of prioritizing investments in relevant sectors such as clean energy, artificial intelligence and social inclusion to ensure resilience in the face of future risks. “There shouldn’t be a trade-off between profit and purpose,” Al-Mashat stated, “customers are now voting with their feet and turning to companies with strong ESG credentials.” A successful execution of multilateralism and public-private collaboration can be seen through the World Economic Forum’s Regional Action Group, which brings together a group of senior decision-makers from government, private sector and civil society, to design a new roadmap that applies the principles of Stakeholder Capitalism for the Middle East and North Africa. The four principles are: accelerating inclusive economics and societies, shaping a new vision for economic integration, harnessing the Fourth Industrial Revolution and promoting environmental stewardship. The report, titled ‘International Partnerships for Sustainable Development’, tracks Egypt’s progress towards the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The report draws on the latest available data found in the Ministry’s ODA SDG mapping exercise, and provides an overview of Egypt’s implementation efforts, highlighting areas of progress and the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on each SDG. According to the annual report by the Ministry of International Cooperation in 2020, the ministry secured development financing agreements worth $9.8 billion during the year; $6.7 billion for financing sovereign projects, and $3.1 billion in support of the private sector.