The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat met with Ayman Amin Sejiny, the CEO and General Manager at Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), at the Ministry’s headquarters. Al-Mashat welcomed Sejiny to Egypt and thanked ICD and its board of directors for their continuous support of the private sector’s activities, for contributing to accelerating development rates and economic activity. The Minister discussed future cooperation possibilities with ICD in light of the COVID-19 pandemic’s challenges, noting that the change posed by the health crisis has prompted an open dialogue about the necessity of development financing, and reinforced the importance of supporting the private sector. Al-Mashat pointed out the effective and important role played by the ICD in encouraging the flow of foreign direct investment to Arab countries, and in enhancing inter-Arab investments, stressing the Government of Egypt’s commitment to developing relations with the corporation. This falls within the framework of the historical relations between ICD and Egypt, and also comes in light of the country’s plan to increase activities with the private sector to support accelerating development. This led to an improvement in the private sector’s contribution to Egypt’s GDP from 69% to 74% in the last three years. The Minister noted the significant improvement in the Egyptian economy in recent years as it became the second fastest economically developing country in the world during the pandemic, and it recorded the third fastest growing economy in the world by 5.6%, followed by China and India, before the pandemic. This is reflected in the improvement of investment opportunities and in the increase of financing that is needed to strengthen the Egyptian market’s activities. Al-Mashat also expressed that Egypt’s banking system has improved over the past 5 years, particularly with the implementation of the monetary reform program and the liberalization of exchange rates at the end of 2016. This is reflected in the business volume, growth of asset portfolios, and strengthened safety indicators in banks. The financial position of the banking system in Egypt enables it to obtain development financing directed to serve Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and it also supports in improving the conditions for granting financing to Egyptian banks. Sejiny said that Egypt has witnessed qualitative, tangible development in the investment climate in the last period. This increased the investors’ inclination to support the entrepreneurial scene, capitalizing on their innovation and digitization which will boost the overall economic growth. He added that ICD supports 27 projects across Egypt, worth $217.6 million; all dedicated to supporting the private sector. Sejiny pointed out that ICD funds the financial sector (finance lines, banking and non-banking stocks, advisory services, and Industry and Business Environmental Support (IBES); the corporate sector (infrastructure, corporate financing and bonds; and the private sector (fund management, and investment to support production capacity). The ICD is a multilateral development financial institution affiliated with the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), established in November 1999 to support economic development in member states by financing private sector projects, encouraging competition and entrepreneurship, and providing advisory services to governments, and ensuring cross-border investments. The corporation's capital amounts to $4 billion; $2 billion of which is available by subscription. The shareholder structure of ICD consists of the IsDB (45%), 52 member states (46%) and 5 public financial institutions (9%); aiming to establish, expand and modernize the private sector through financing companies and projects.