The encounter built on fruitful discussions held during the
fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (Ff4D) in Seville,
Spain.
Al-Mashat welcomed the German minister on her first visit to
Egypt and wished her success in her role within the new German government. She
emphasized Egypt's appreciation for the Egyptian-German economic relationship,
describing it as a strategic partnership reflecting a commitment to enhancing
shared interests and advancing development efforts. This includes bilateral
governmental partnerships, German company investments in Egypt, and development
cooperation initiatives. She added that the visit marks a milestone in
cooperation between the two countries, reflecting the depth of bilateral ties
and a shared vision for sustainable development and economic growth.
The ministers discussed updates on Egyptian-German economic
and investment relations, joint development projects, and explored new
mechanisms for innovative financing, especially in light of the outcomes of the
Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville. They
stressed the need for greater international community contributions to
development financing in developing and emerging economies. They also discussed
implementing the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+)
investment guarantee mechanism, which aligns with the Egyptian-European
strategic partnership and aims to increase foreign direct investment from both
local and foreign private sectors in Egypt. Preparations for the 2025
Egyptian-German governmental negotiations were also reviewed.
Both sides examined the outcomes of the Fourth International
Conference on Financing for Development. Al-Mashat highlighted the importance
of implementing the recommendations of the UN team's report on resolving the
debt problem in Global South countries. These recommendations included 11
outputs, such as redirecting and renewing resources of existing funds in
multilateral development banks and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to
enhance liquidity, adopting policies to extend maturities, financing loan
repurchases, reducing debt service during crises, reforming the G20's Common
Framework to include all middle-income countries, and reforming the IMF and
World Bank's Debt Sustainability Analyses (DSA) to better reflect the situation
of low- and middle-income countries, among other recommendations.
The Minister of Planning also outlined the features of
Egypt's National Narrative for Economic Development. This initiative aims to
achieve a structural transformation in the Egyptian economy towards tradable
and export-oriented sectors through strengthening macroeconomic policies,
encouraging foreign direct investment, industrial development, and supporting
labor market and employment policies. She noted that Egyptian-German relations
contribute to achieving these objectives.
In this regard, Al-Mashat praised the success of the
Egyptian-German debt swap program. The Egyptian government has successfully
signed debt swap agreements totaling 340 million euros to finance various
development projects across different sectors. This includes a new tranche of
the Egyptian-German debt swap program worth 100 million euros for the period
2024-2026. She explained that the program has contributed to using the local
currency equivalent of the debt to implement development projects in various sectors,
including education and technical education, social protection, health, and
improving renewable energy supplies. Coordination is also underway to allocate
50 million euros within the program to support the energy component of the
"NWFE" program, funding part of the local component of the project to
connect the "Acwa Power (1) and (2)" stations to offload 1,100
megawatts of wind power. She asserted that the Egyptian-German debt swap
program serves as a successful example of enhancing financing for development.
Discussions also touched upon the financial cooperation
agreement between Egypt and Germany, signed on May 25, 2025. This agreement
includes a financing package of 118 million euros in the form of concessional
financing and financial contributions (complementary grants). It will fund
projects such as financial support for the comprehensive technical education
initiative and support for the establishment of 25 Egyptian centers of
excellence. In the same context, the two sides discussed the status of the
governmental negotiations expected to be held between the Egyptian and German
sides at the end of this year, expressing their anticipation for enhancing
economic development cooperation between the two governments, as well as
allocating new financial contributions to finance development projects aimed at
driving economic growth.
Al-Mashat noted that in light of the success of the national
platform for the "NWFE" program and the international community's
expansion of the concept of national platforms for mobilizing investments, work
is currently underway, in coordination with the Ministry of Industry, the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and other development
partners, to launch the first national platform to mobilize financing and technical
support for the industrial sector.
This aligns with the "National Narrative for Economic Development" to advance the state's efforts in localizing industry and encouraging local products. She highlighted that the "National Narrative for Economic Development" provides a unified vision for the Egyptian economy's transformation towards tradable sectors.