The Minister of International Cooperation Meets with the Dutch Ambassador in Cairo Tackling Areas of Development Cooperation

H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, met with Mr. Han-Maurits Schaapveld, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Egypt, in the presence of Mrs. Marjolein Jongman, Head of Economic Affairs and Development Cooperation (HEOS) at Embassy of The Netherlands in Egypt; and Mr. Jean-Louis Martens, Deputy Head Economic Department at Royal Netherlands Embassy, to discuss joint economic relations between Egypt and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along with development projects between the two countries. This comes within the framework of the periodic meetings convened by H.E. Al-Mashat with multilateral and bilateral development partners to discuss expanding and reinforcing international cooperation and, hence, pushing the frontiers of Egypt’s Vision 2030 and accelerating the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During the meeting, the Minister of International Cooperation and the Dutch ambassador in Cairo discussed aspects of development cooperation between the two countries, which shall foster joint sustainable development frameworks. The discussions further tackled cooperation frameworks in the areas pertaining to women's empowerment, family planning, and combating illegal immigration. The meeting highlighted the partnership between the Embassy of the Netherlands and their major partner from the private sector: ALEXBANK. This initiative, launched through the Ministry of International Cooperation’s entrepreneurial programme “Orange Corners Egypt”, aims to provide training, communication networks, and facilities for entrepreneurs to start and develop their innovative businesses. The initiative includes two business incubation programs; one in Cairo and the other in Upper Egypt (Assiut). Each program provides 6-month training courses, offered on a recurring basis, for 15 to 25 entrepreneurs at a time. The Minister of International Cooperation elaborated that the Ministry has developed a three-pillar economic diplomacy framework consisting of: the Multi-Stakeholder Platforms (MSPs), the Official Development Assistance mapping to the Sustainable Development Goals (ODA-SDG Mapping), and the Global Partnerships Narrative. By the same token, Al-Mashat emphasized that the ODA-SDG Mapping keeps track of the national achievements obtained through international partnerships; provides the data needed for making informed decisions with regards to future partnerships; and promotes principles of transparency and governance towards effective development cooperation. Al-Mashat also touched on the launch of her book "Stakeholder Engagement through Economic Diplomacy”; documenting Egypt’s experience in the field of international cooperation and development financing, whilst crafting a model for other emerging and developing countries to follow suit. For his part, the Dutch ambassador in Cairo applauded the joint relations between the two countries since the 1960s, which supported development projects in many sectors, including agriculture, irrigation, industry, health, housing, transportation, electricity, supply, education, and local development and utilities. Mr. Schaapveld noted that the Netherlands supported several projects implemented by the World Food Programme (WFP), in cooperation with national authorities in Upper Egypt; adding that there have been ongoing efforts together with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to support the private sector in Egypt . It is worth mentioning that Egypt and the Netherlands have had joint economic cooperation relations consolidated through technical and financial agreements since 1975. The cooperation portfolio between the two sides amounts to EUR 348 million to finance projects in several sectors, including agriculture, irrigation, industry, and health.