Egypt aspires to deepen cooperation with EIB in fields of health, education

CAIRO - 3 April 2022:The Egyptian Finance Minister, Mohamed Maait, affirmed the government’s keenness in deepening the 20-year-old cooperation between Egypt and the European Investment Bank (EIB), to extend to the areas of human development, which the state accords a high priority; “health and education.”

 

Maait also referred to enhancing the participation of the private sector in economic activity; as it is the locomotive of job-rich growth, especially in light of the population increase that calls for sustainably raising economic growth rates to achieve the desired development, and to contribute to improving the standard of living of citizens and upgrading the services provided to them.

 

The minister pointed out that the national comprehensive health insurance project fulfills the dream of all Egyptians in providing comprehensive and integrated health care for all family members, in a way that contributes to strengthening social protection efforts for them, and reduces the severity of the negative effects of global crises.

 

This came during Maait’s meeting with the European Investment Bank delegation headed by Leonel Rabel.

 

The minister reviewed the efforts to create infrastructure to provide an attractive environment for local and foreign investment, in addition to opening new horizons for expansion of partnership projects with the private sector, especially in sectors that have priority during the coming period, including: water, information technology, transportation and communications, stressing the government's keenness to take into account the environmental dimension in projects; in line with efforts to transition to a green economy in light of Egypt's hosting of the upcoming COP 27 climate summit.

 

Maait expressed the Egyptian side's aspiration to the efforts of the European Investment Bank in green financing in developing countries, in a way that helps them achieve development goals by implementing environmentally friendly projects.

 

The European Investment Bank delegation affirmed that Egypt is a major partner for the bank, and that the cooperation portfolio between the two sides amounted to 7 billion euros, and that they are interested in entering into partnerships to develop fields of work for the private sector, in line with Egyptian priorities, in addition to continuing to finance infrastructure projects and support areas of human development.

 

The European Investment Bank delegation expressed its readiness to cooperate with the Egyptian side during the activities of the COP 27 climate summit, to discuss ways to reduce the cost of green finance in developing countries.