Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Rania El-Mashat, announced that the European Investment Bank (EIB) approved a EUR 750 million facility to Banque Misr to mitigate the negative repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and close the liquidity gap.
El-Mashat emphasised on the importance of the ministry’s partnership with the EIB in supporting development, as the Ministry of International Cooperation signed several agreements with the bank in the current year, the most important of which is an agreement worth EUR 1.9 billion for the transport sector as well as SMEs, according to a statement on Monday.
She noted that the ministry is seeking to strengthen economic diplomacy to strengthen the ‘Global Partnerships for Effective Development’. These principles include regularly organising multi-stakeholder platforms to ensure that all projects between development partners are streamlined; adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative People & Projects & Purpose (P&P&P); and mapping ODA financing to SDGs for all projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners.
Earlier in February, the EIB visited Egypt to discuss future projects that are in line with supporting Egypt's agenda 2030, where Flavia Palanza, EIB Director for Eastern and Southern Neighbourhood, asserted that the EIB is willing to support Egypt with its economic recovery plan, in cooperation with the European Union (EU), in energy, transport, water and sanitation, SMEs, healthcare, and education.
The bilateral strategic partnership between Egypt and the EIB dates back to 1979 with a portfolio amounting to nearly EUR 10.6 billion to finance public and private collaborations and support social and economic development.
