Representatives of various international financial institutions (IFIs) hailed Egypt’s efforts to match the development finances it secures from them to the United Nations’ global sustainable development goals’ (SDGs) agenda.
This came during the second day of the first edition of Egypt’s International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF 2021), which concluded on Thursday.
They also said that such an action is anticipated to boost Egypt’s efforts regarding executing its SDGs agenda in light of Egypt’s 2030 Vision.
On Wednesday, Egypt-ICF 2021 kicked off under the patronage of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, with high-level representatives from international development institutions and IFIs in attendance.
The UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, Elena Panova, asserted the importance of development finances in accomplishing the SDGs, including in Egypt, adding that she is looking forward to collaborating with Egypt in implementing its various development projects.
On his part, the Head of Regional Representation at the European Investment Bank (EIB), Alfredo Abad, noted that the EIB is working with Egypt in implementing projects in the fields of water, infrastructure, agriculture, and supporting the private sector through extending finances and exchanging experiences.
Regional collaboration in light of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was also one of the main pillars that the forum discussed.
The attendees asserted the necessity of benefitting from the AfCFTA in enhancing African countries’ infrastructure, particularly in terms of logistics, legislation, and technological solutions.
“Africa constitutes 17 percent of the global population and about three percent of the global GDP. The continent’s countries need to focus on supporting industry and production as well as opening the borders for trade flow,” said South Africa’s Trade Minister Ebrahim Patel.
He also stressed the importance of supporting digital technology and mobilising finances and investments in the continent for the sake of enhancing e-commerce among its countries; especially that COVID-19 has proven how e-commerce and digitisation do matter to economies amid the current unprecedented shocks.
Virtually, the Vice President for Middle Eastern Affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, Steve Lutes, noted that the chamber is carrying out various projects in Egypt and other African countries as well as supporting all available opportunities to invest in the continent.
He added that the US is committed to encourage the ongoing economic reforms in Africa in particular, as well as reinforcing their digital transformation efforts.
“Egypt is making significant efforts to collaborate with international companies for the sake of achieving its digital transformation strategy. Egypt is also able to attract giant international companies operating in the e-commerce field, and that was apparent [given] the inauguration of Amazon’s logistics centre in the country,” Lutes explained.
On the other hand, Senior Advisor at the World Trade Centre James Hawley pointed out that there are significant challenges and obstacles that need real solutions to deal with and enhance intra-trade.
He also asserted Africa’s need to create electronic payment platforms, which will pave the way for trade flow to increase.
Moreover, facilitating intra-trade and e-commerce among African countries and decreasing value-added related taxes should be on the continent’s top priorities.
During the forum’s side events, the CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, Hany Sonbol, said that Egypt’s government has been at the forefront of development cooperation, providing an innovative framework and a blueprint that can be replicated by other countries to achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals.
“Trade finance is more important now than ever before to ensure that the world’s most vulnerable countries are anchored to the international trade system and that they are not left behind, as the trade finance gap — initially estimated at $1.5 trillion before the pandemic — has increased significantly to $3.4 trillion in order to be able to meet the SDGs,” Sonbol expounded.
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