According to the statement, Minister of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat said the strategy aims to strengthen sustainable development in line with the national agenda for sustainable development and Egypt Vision 2030.

It focuses on leveraging financing for sustainable development to bridge the financing gap and decrease financial risks and future loans.

Al-Mashat added that this strategy depends on the Funding to Financing (F2F) method, which encourages transfer from traditional financing mechanisms to comprehensive financing strategies for sustainable development, read the statement.

Moreover, she explained that the strategy will determine a set of procedures to bridge the financing gap which will be executed by the government, including conducting cost estimates for sustainable development goals (SDGs).

It was developed as part of the strategy for financing the SDGs programme in Egypt, which is led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with several international organizations, including the International Labour Organization (ILO), UNCTAD, UNICEF, and the UN Women Council.

Additionally, the UN Sustainable Development Goals Fund has supported the strategy.

Al-Mashat clarified that the strategy includes expanding cooperation between the public and private sectors, strengthening the green banking system, reinforcing the digital economy, intensifying financial instruments to support priority sectors (such as agriculture, industry, petroleum and natural gas, and electricity) and climate change investments, increasing foreign direct investments (FDIs), and enhancing incentives to localize the sustainable development goals.

Egypt is working on increasing the private sector's contribution to economic growth per its commitment under the International Monetary Fund's $8 billion loan programme.

The country has also made several efforts to attract FDIs and improve the private sector's conditions. These include enhancing the flexibility of the exchange rate, promoting neutral competitiveness, encouraging the industrial sector, and improving the business environment.

Furthermore, Al-Mashat declared that the ministry will hold a meeting for the supervising committee in coordination with the work group concerned with financing for development.

“We have a long-term partnership in the European Investment Bank since 1979 and have invested about 15 billion euros in several development and infrastructure projects and also the private sector,” Head of the EIB Group Representation to the United States and the United Nations Markus Berndt said during the Summit of the Future.

Cooperation with the World Bank
 

The Summit of the Future witnessed negotiations between the Managing Director of Operations at the World Bank Anna Bjerde and Minister Al-Mashat regarding the possible cooperation fields, especially encouraging FDIs in Egypt.

The current portfolio for developmental cooperation with the World Bank has recorded around $5.4 billion to execute 12 developmental projects in several fields, including sustainable infrastructure, education, health, local development, social security, budget support, SMEs, the environment, and green transformation.