Egypt-ICF brings together relevant parties to lay foundations, criteria for sustainable recovery: Al-Mashat

CAIRO – 8 September 2021: The Corona pandemic forced the world to make exceptional efforts to achieve sustainable development and confront climate changes so that the world would emerge stronger and more resolute, enabling the international community to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030, Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, stated Wednesday.

This came during Al-Mashat’s speech before the Egypt-ICF Egypt 2021 in its first edition - which started its activities on Wednesday and will last for two days, under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of the Republic, and in the presence of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and a number of ministers and representatives Governments from Africa, Europe and Latin America, heads of international and regional financial institutions, representatives of the private sector, and the civil society.

Al-Mashat said that real repercussions of coronavirus were not limited to the health aspects only, but extended to include the economic and social aspects and cast a shadow over the efforts of countries and their endeavors towards development.

She added that the pandemic has shown that no country, whatever its capabilities, will be able to achieve comprehensive and sustainable recovery on its own, which reinforces the importance of multilateral cooperation, as a key tool to overcome the pandemic and complete our journey towards achieving the sustainable development goals.

The minister pointed out that the Egypt ICF is being held under exceptional circumstances, to bring together all relevant parties, including international institutions, governments, civil society and the private sector, in order to set standards and ways to adapt to these changes and confront them with flexible plans capable of absorbing shocks.

She explained that the gathering of all relevant parties, during the forum's activities, whether by actual or virtual attendance, only came to their certainty that the world, no matter how different its components, has one destiny and a common goal, which is to overcome the pandemic, and move forward towards development and green recovery.

Al-Mashat added that the forum aims, through its agenda, to stimulate joint action and coordinate development visions for all parties of the international community, and to take advantage of the rich discussions between the relevant parties to search for innovative solutions commensurate with the challenges facing the world.

She revealed that the forum will witness the launch of a number of qualitative initiatives to advance multilateral cooperation and exchange experiences and expertise, as well as three important publications through which we will promote national efforts in a number of development fields, in a belief in the importance of exchanging expertise and knowledge.

The minister stressed that based on the specificity of the African continent, with its natural resources and young human energy, the forum highlights the importance of activating regional cooperation mechanisms in light of the African Free Trade Agreement and triangular cooperation with the continent of Africa, as they are effective tools of multilateral cooperation to achieve international goals at the regional level, as well as their role in advancing Africa's Agenda 2063.

She noted that the forum is discussing strengthening international financing mechanisms to stimulate the process of mobilizing resources to bridge the financing gap to achieve the sustainable development goals, as data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development indicate that only 1 percent of global assets worth $379 trillion are able to bridge this gap, which requires unprecedented effort, coordination, cooperation and the search for innovative financing tools, including blended financing.

The forum also discusses stimulating the role that the private sector can play through international partnerships to contribute effectively to supporting development efforts, in addition to discussing ways of economic empowerment for youth and women.

The Minister of International Cooperation pointed out that in light of the global risks resulting from climate change and its negative effects on citizens, the forum discusses the opportunities and challenges facing developing and emerging economies to achieve a green transformation, promote the integration of climate action into recovery strategies, and ensure that everyone benefits from new economic opportunities, especially African countries, whose growth rates have been severely affected by the pandemic.

She pointed out that the forum concludes with a session on investment in human capital, through which it sheds light on the Egyptian experience to improve the lives of citizens through the presidential initiative, a decent life and other national initiatives, while highlighting the effective role of international cooperation and development financing in this field.

At the conclusion of her speech, Al-Mashat affirmed the commitment of the Ministry of International Cooperation and its development partners to make this forum come out with realistic and ambitious recommendations through a final statement that will be activated to achieve our aspirations towards development, and consolidating work with development partners to support the national development vision that is consistent with the UN goals for sustainable development.