Minister of International Cooperation, H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat announced that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development provided a $12 million to to Al Dau Al Haram for Hotel Operations to support women’s inclusion in the tourism sector and develop Hyatt Regency Cairo West Hotel next to the Grand Egyptian Museum and the Giza Pyramids.
The new hotel development project aims to create more than 300 job opportunities to promote women's inclusion in the sector and adopt environmental sustainability standards in the tourism sector through the introduction of green technology. Al-Mashat stated that Egypt’s tourism sector plays a critical role in driving inclusion and economic diversification in the Egyptian economy, as well as protecting the social welfare and cultural heritage of the host communities – striking a balance between achieving sustainability and social impact. She added that the new fund comes under the Ministry’s Global Partnerships Narrative that focuses on three main pillars: people at the core, projects in action, and purpose as the driver, to streamline all development efforts under one umbrella and push for a human-centered and inclusive economy. To strengthen economic diplomacy, the Ministry has been working to apply the three principles of economic diplomacy: regularly organizing multi-stakeholder platforms to enhance coordination and foster dialogue; mapping ODA financing to SDGs for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners; and adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative People&Projects&Purpose (P&P&P). Yesterday, the Ministry of International Cooperation released the 2020 Annual report, titled ‘International Partnerships for Sustainable Development’, which 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. The report highlights the role of multilateral cooperation in pushing Egypt’s development forward, helping the Ministry secure 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. Since the beginning of its operations in 2012, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has invested more than 7 billion euros in more than 125 projects in Egypt.