Egypt’s Rania Al-Mashat participates in launch of multilateral financing platform

CAIRO - 22 April 2024: Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, participated Sunday  in the launch of the multilateral financing platform of 10 development banks.

The platform aims to pump additional capital, expand the scope and impact of development, mobilize funds for mega projects, and reduce the burdens on beneficiary countries.

In her speech, Mashat said that Egypt has implemented the concept of joint cooperation platforms between international financial institutions so that more than one development partner contributes to financing investment projects in human capital and sustainable infrastructure.

The African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Council of Europe Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, the New Development Bank, and the World Bank Group participated in its launch.

The global platform includes a digital co-financing portal to create a secure platform for registered co-financing entities to identify projects ready for financing. This mechanism, hosted by the World Bank, will increase efficiency and transparency and make it easier for multilateral development banks to exchange information and identify co-financing opportunities.

The platform also includes a joint financing forum, which will provide a space for participants to discuss joint financing opportunities and best practices. This forum will support ongoing efforts to coordinate policies and reduce burdens on partner countries. 

For countries, the new platform will reduce administrative burdens and transaction costs, and will improve financing coordination in line with their priorities, thus increasing development impact.

Mashat also participated in the work of the Development Committee, in which Bahraini Minister of Finance Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, delivered a speech on behalf of Egypt, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, the Maldives, Oman, Qatar, the Emirates, and Yemen.

In his speech, the Bahraini Minister stressed that while the region is gradually recovering from the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and its profound economic and social impacts, the recent geopolitical conflicts and their repercussions have significantly hampered this recovery. The ongoing war in Gaza, in addition to other outstanding crises, has contributed to the exacerbation of poverty, inequality, unemployment, and the slowdown in economic growth, to varying degrees, in many countries of the region.

He stressed that the strong support and engagement of the World Bank Group, through knowledge, financing and technical assistance, is critical to help address these challenges, including the repercussions of the influx of refugees from Syria and other countries.