Egypt’s Minister of Planning, Economic Development Ahmed Rostom met with a high-level delegation from the World Bank, headed by Country Director for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti Stéphane Guimbert, alongside the Bank’s Cairo-based team, to discuss ways to further deepen the strategic partnership between the two sides.
The meeting focused on enhancing bilateral cooperation and providing technical support for Egypt’s annual and medium-term development plans. Discussions underscored the importance of improving public investment efficiency and accelerating growth driven by human development.
During the talks, Rostom highlighted the importance of coordination with international financial institutions, noting the close cooperation between the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates.
He stressed that such coordination is vital to accelerating structural reforms and maximising the benefits of international partnerships in support of Egypt’s sustainable development objectives.
The minister noted that the ministry’s current priority is the preparation of the annual development plan and a three-year medium-term framework, placing “the Egyptian citizen at the heart of the development process.”
He explained that the updated strategy centres on reprioritisingpublic investments to enhance spending efficiency and deliver measurable social returns, while stimulating economic clusters capable of generating employment opportunities.
Rostom added that these efforts directly support Egypt’s social protection framework, particularly the Takaful and Karama cash transfer programme, which targets the most vulnerable groups. She also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to sustaining the presidential “Decent Life”initiative aimed at improving living standards in rural areas, with the second and third phases set to be accelerated in line with presidential directives.
The minister further outlined a more integrated cooperation model with the World Bank that balances fiscal discipline with expanded social investment. She emphasised that the government’s approach goes beyond pursuing economic growth to building a resilient and sustainable economy capable of meeting citizens’ aspirations.
For his part, Guimbert reaffirmed the World Bank’s commitment to providing technical assistance and expertise to the Egyptian government across several priority areas. These include strengthening financial governance through public expenditure reviews, enhancing domestic resource mobilisation, and supporting a sound medium-term fiscal framework.
He added that cooperation will also extend to the social protection and health sectors, including advanced analytical support for Egypt’s comprehensive health insurance system, as well as reinforcing economic resilience by supporting the development and management of economic clusters to create more job opportunities.
