Planning Ministry prepares for Egypt's accession to OECD country program

CAIRO – 26 January 2021: The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development launched a series of dialogue sessions, via videoconferencing, with a number of experts representing the private sector, civil society and academia in order to prepare for Egypt's joining of the country program in cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El-Said indicated that the sessions came in light of cooperation between the ministry and the OECD, explaining that the country program is a tool that supports emerging economies in designing their reforms and strengthening their public policies.

El-Said said that five different areas or pillars were chosen to be the focus of the country program, as part of the work of the coordinating committee formed by the Prime Minister’s decision No. 61 of 2020 to prepare for Egypt's accession to the country program, noting that these areas are economic stability, monitoring and structural reform, and science technology and innovation, public governance and anti-corruption, statistics and follow-up, as well as sustainable development.

For his part, Ahmed Kamali, deputy minister of Planning, pointed out the advantages of preparing the country program, are that the program is used to push and ensure the achievement of the second package of proposed structural reforms, and facilitate Egypt's participation in selected OECD activities, along with preparing joint studies and peer reviews that help in laying the scientific foundations for the reform agenda in Egypt.

Kamali continued that the program allows Egypt to benefit from technical support in various fields, which helps in improving Egypt's position in various economic, social and environmental indicators, and gives access to a network of international experts and international best practices, in addition to supporting Egypt's efforts to obtain full membership in the OECD.

Kamali explained that the country program has three main cooperation mechanisms: participation in committees, adherence to the organization's tools and standards, in addition to technical cooperation.

Dialogue sessions discuss proposals for various cooperation mechanisms within the framework of the country program, with the aim of ensuring that the best available mechanisms are chosen to maximize Egypt's benefit from the country program.

The first session was held under the title "sustainable development," and another session was held on Monday January 25, 2021, under the title "science, technology and innovation."

Each session will end with a general discussion with experts on projects, tools, and proposed cooperation mechanisms.