Egypt’s Minister of Investment and International Cooperation (MIIC) Sahar Nasr met with President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Suma Chakrabarti, over the course of the World Bank Group (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2018 annual meetings in Bali Nusa Dua, Indonesia.
On Saturday, Nasr and Chakrabarti discussed activating the previously announced plans to establish a foreign investment advisory board in Egypt.
The MIIC announced in a statement that Egypt’s foreign investment advisory board is set to hold a dialogue platform that brings together the Egyptian government and major companies investing in the local market. The platform will promotes Egypt’s investment opportunities. Nasr and Chakrabarti also discussed boosting the bank’s investment in Egypt and Africa.
Chakrabarti praised the success of the Benban solar energy projects, affirming the EBRD’s keenness to support energy and infrastructure projects in Egypt.
He also stressed the EBRD’s support of Egypt’s efforts to diversify the country’s energy resources, noting that the bank will continue its investment in Egypt in several areas: energy efficiency, renewable energy, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and governance in both the public and private sectors.
For her part, Nasr stressed Egypt’s sturdy relation with the EBRD, noting that the bank has financed about 49 projects in Egypt so far, with investments worth €2.6bn.
The minister praised the EBRD’s contribution to the development of agricultural, infrastructure, and transportation sectors in Egypt. She also invited the EBRD to participate in the Africa Forum 2018, which will be held on 8 – 9 December in Sharm El Sheikh.
Furthermore, Nasr met with Takema Sakamoto, chief representative of Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in the Middle East and Europe. They discussed boosting cooperation in the transportation, electricity, and education sectors.
The MIIC’s statement affirmed that Egypt is keen on benefiting from Japanese educational methods, noting that JICA recently began implementing its educational development project in 34 Egyptian schools.
In early October, Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry met with JICA President Shinichi Kitaoka to discuss means of developing cooperation in different fields.
Shoukry expressed Egypt’s appreciation of JICA’s efforts in supporting development projects in the country, particularly in the establishment of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), the Third Country Training Program (TCTP), Cairo Metro Line 4, and the Egypt-Japan Education Initiative (EJEP).
Nasr also participated in the ministerial meeting on climate change held on the sidelines of the IMF-WB Annual Meetings. The climate change meeting was attended by WB’s president Jim Yong Kim, IMF’s managing director Christine Lagarde, and UN secretary general António Guterres.
The MIIC’s statement noted that Nasr discussed with Guterres boosting development projects with Egypt and empowering women, pointing out that Egypt has a leading role in spreading peace in the Middle East.
Nasr asserted that Egypt is keen on supporting the environment-friendly projects, including renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure, adding that the government collaborates with the private sector to support innovation projects with the aim to boast the country’s economic growth.