EGYPT – The government of Egypt, through the ministry of international cooperation and finance, has inked an agreement with the Japanese government, represented by the Japanese Embassy in Cairo and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The deal provides a development finance of US$240 million for Egypt.
The accord targets development financing policies in energy and budget support in Egypt, aiming to enhance the green growth and sustainable development as well as alleviating the repercussions of climate change and countering the impact of COVID-19.
The agreement was signed by Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait, and Chief Representative of JICA Egypt Office Omura Yoshifumi, in the presence of a number of Egyptian and Japanese officials.
Al-Mashat said the agreement comes in the aftermath of one-year negotiations despite the coronavirus crisis and the repercussion of lockdown globally.
She added that Japan’s current cooperation portfolio with Egypt amounts to US$2.7 billion used in 14 projects in a number of developmental sectors, including electricity, education, higher education, scientific research, tourism and antiquities.
Al-Mashat emphasised Egypt’s appreciation of the development finances that the Japanese government has extended to Egypt to back the country’s efforts in fighting coronavirus.
According Ahram Online, during the first wave of the pandemic, Japan provided Egypt with a grant worth US$9.3 million to be used in medical sets and supplies in the health ministry’s hospitals, bringing the total amount of the Japanese grants current portfolio to US$54.5 million, according to Al-Mashat.
Meanwhile, Maait said that the agreement is compatible with Egypt’s efforts to provide urgent development finances to contribute to mitigating the pandemic’s socio-economic impact and to back the most hit sectors.
The Japanese Ambassador to Egypt Masaki Noke asserted the importance of the new finance in supporting Egypt’s efforts towards green economy transformation and enhancing clean energy transformation policies.
The Ministry of International Cooperation secured US$9.8 billion as development finances in 2020, including US$3.2 billion for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and US$6.7 billion for other development sectors.
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