Egypt, Qatar talks means to develop bilateral coordination amid turbulent global economic scene

CAIRO -  4 June 2022: Egyptian Finance Minister Mohamed Maait held a bilateral meeting with Qatari counterpart Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, on the sidelines of their participation in the annual meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group held in Sharm El Sheikh, titled “Starting Recovery from the Pandemic: Resilience and Sustainability.”

The two sides praised the tangible progress in the course of the Egyptian-Qatari relations, in a way that serves the goals and interests of both countries and peoples.

The two ministers reviewed the global economic scene, which has been violently affected by the consequences of the Corona pandemic, and the repercussions of the war in Europe, and has faced severe pressures and difficulties due to disruption in supply chains, and a significant rise in commodity prices.

The two sides agreed on the need to enhance bilateral cooperation in facing the current global economic crisis, which has difficult repercussions on all countries of the world. In order to alleviate its severity on the citizens.

They discussed ways to develop bilateral coordination, deepen consultation on financial policies, and mechanisms for reaching an agreement to prevent double taxation between the two countries.

Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait stressed that this turbulent atmosphere in the global economy reflects the importance of the Egyptian economic reform program, and the gains it has achieved that gave the Egyptian economy the ability to withstand international challenges and absorb shocks.

The minister indicated Egypt's keenness to develop bilateral relations with the Qatari side, especially in the economic and investment fields, with a focus on all development and technological sectors, to achieve optimal utilization of all available opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.

Minister Maait also held a meeting with his Nigerian counterpart Zainab Ahmed in Sharm el Sheikh, where he stressed the importance of formulating a unified African vision regarding the issues of finance and climate change.

This falls within the framework of Egypt’s preparations for hosting the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in November to contribute to achieving the goals of the continent, especially in light of the environmental and economic impact of the climate change.

The meeting discussed the necessity to put mechanisms to face the global inflation which resulted from the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and affected the supply chains, costs of transport and shipping and prices of goods doubling the challenges on the developing countries and rising economies.

Maait urged providing suitable finance opportunities to combat climate change to support the policies and programs of green economy transition to achieve sustainable growth and encourage the private sector on effective participation in the eco-friendly projects to help ease the environmental suffering by finding suitable alternatives.

Both sides reviewed the risks of upping population rates, asserting the importance of raising the awareness on the risks of this issue, especially via spreading education.