The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al Mashat said that the successive changes the world is going through require resilient leadership, innovative mechanisms to address emerging challenges and coordination to enhance the exchange of experiences. H.E. noted that the Government of Egypt is working to establish innovative solutions to overcome challenges and accelerate development.
This came during her participation as a keynote speaker in a panel discussion titled "Leadership in a Volatile World", at the World Government Summit in Dubai. This included opening remarks from H.E. Dr. Muhammad AlJasser, Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank Group, as well as participation of Terence Mauri, Founder of Hack Future Lab, London Speaking Bureau, and Mansour AlAwar, President of Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University.
Al-Mashat also discussed how multilateral cooperation can be used to address the global environment of uncertainty and the challenges facing the world since the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the Ministry of International Cooperation is responsible for relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and multilateral and bilateral development partners. Despite the difficulty of the past years, through an institutional framework for international cooperation and innovative ideas to strengthen communication and coordination between the priorities of the state and development partners, effective results have been achieved over the past three years.
She added that there has been a use of technology to activate multi-stakeholder platforms to maximize integration between development partners and stimulate joint efforts to mobilize technical support and financing mechanisms for all priority projects, along with implementing a methodology to map official development assistance (ODA) to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During 2020 and 2021, about $20 billion were secured in development financing, of which about 25% was dedicated to the private sector.
H.E. stressed that resilience is a key factor for leadership in times of crisis and promoting multilateral cooperation, and stimulating the exchange of experience with the international community, noting the importance of South-South cooperation in promoting the expertise and development experiences exchange.
Al-Mashat noted the importance of Triangular Cooperation and South-South Cooperation in advancing development efforts in developing countries and emerging economies, and strengthening partnerships and integration between the countries of the African continent, explaining that Egypt has strong and extended relations with all international financing institutions and multilateral and bilateral development partners, which are reflected in the volume of the portfolio that exceeds $26 billion.
The Minister also stated that, over the past years, Egypt has launched pioneering development programs and projects, which have won the trust and applause of international institutions, and have implemented practices that advance sustainable development efforts, which can represent a center for joint action between the countries of the South, including the Takaful and Karama projects implemented with the World Bank Group (WBG) for social protection in vulnerable areas, the presidential initiative "Haya Karima", and several development projects in cooperation with development partners, including the Luxor Innovation Center, which comes within the framework of cooperation with the World Food Programme (WFP).
Within the framework of the participation of the Arab Republic of Egypt as a guest of honor at the World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai 2023, with a high-level delegation headed by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the Minister of International Cooperation H.E Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat is taking part in this year's summit events under the theme "Shaping Future Governments". This includes the participation of government leaders, ministers, senior officials, decision-makers, thought leaders and specialists in financial, economic and social affairs from around the world, to exchange experiences, knowledge and ideas that contribute to promoting development and prosperity around the world.
The WGS is being held under the patronage of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Minister of defense of the United Arab Emirates and ruler of Dubai, from 13-15 February. This year's summit is scheduled to see the participation of over 280 government delegations, 80 international and government organizations, and over 200 speakers in over 300 sessions and 22 forums over the summit days.