Friday 13/June/2025 – 02:05 PM
Dr. Rania Al -Mashat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, received Ambassador Gareth Bailey, UK Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, at the Ministry’s headquarters in the new administrative capital, to discuss the developments of cooperation between the two countries in the field of sustainable green transformation.
During the meeting, Dr. Rania Al -Mashat referred to the close economic relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the United Kingdom, whether in terms of relations between the Egyptian and British governments, or relations between the private sector and British financial institutions that contribute to diversifying the mechanisms and tools of financing available to the private sector, stressing Egypt’s keenness to move forward towards developing bilateral relations at all levels.
Development policies financing program
And I appreciated «Sculpture», The British role in supporting the implementation of structural reforms through the development policies financing program that is being implemented in partnership with the World Bank.
The meeting touched on the cooperation between the two sides within the framework of the national platform of the “Noufi” program, which was launched by the Egyptian government as a national platform to pay climate investments in the fields of water, food, energy and sustainable transport, as well as the preparations of the COP30 Climate to be held in Brazil.
Empowering the private sector
Dr. Rania Al -Mashat indicated that the United Kingdom participated effectively in the launch of the “Hafiz” platform, which works to enhance financial and technical support for the local and foreign private sector, through the availability of financial and non -financial services, and that the platform provides many initiatives and programs supported by the United Kingdom in Egypt, including the Climate Finance Hard (CFA), and the A2D program: which supports research and development in the field of clean energy.
Al -Mashat emphasized that the trade relations between Egypt and the United Kingdom have witnessed remarkable growth in recent years, which is reflected in numbers and statistics, as the volume of trade exchange between the two countries reached about 4.7 billion pounds in 2024, which reflects the strength of the economic relationship, and Egypt has become the 48th commercial partner of the United Kingdom worldwide, and the United Kingdom occupies an advanced position among the largest foreign investors in Egypt.
Expanding the scope of financing programs from British institutions
The two sides discussed expanding the scope of the partnership in implementing development cooperation programs, diversifying innovative financing sources for the government and private sectors, and mechanisms for financing small and medium enterprises. Dr. Rania Al -Mashat also called on the British Ambassador to participate in the conference organized by the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, next Sunday on development financing to empower the private sector.
The Egyptian -British relations are characterized by their diversity in many fields, as there are many British companies that invest in Egypt, and in 2020 the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation and the British State for International Development issued a joint statement to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries, within the activities of the British African Investment Summit.
It is worth noting that the British financing institutions are represented in the British International Investment Corporation, BII, the British Export Finance Authority and the Egyptian British Business Association, and the British Egyptian Chamber of Commerce, participated earlier in a series of meetings “enhancing communication with the business community and relevant parties for innovation and development”, organized by the ministry, which aims to deepen ties and relations between private sector companies and various financing institutions.
The investments of the British International Investment Corporation in Egypt are about 850 million dollars in more than 70 companies.
