Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development participates in a high-level dialogue entitled “Building Back for Better and Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals” during the activities of the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development 2022

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, participated in the high-level dialogue on “Building Back for Better and Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals”, which was held during the activities of the Arab Forum for Sustainable Development 2022.
 The dialogue was organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), via video conference technology, in the presence of the Ministers of Planning and Finance of several countries.The discussion was moderated by Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Special Envoy for Financing the 2030 Agenda, with the participation of Dr. Rola Dashti, Executive Secretary of the ESCWA Committee, Ms. Amina Mohamed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, and some ministers, executives, and heads of financial institutions and international.Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, talked about how to link state plans, sustainable development plans, and the issue of financing development, which represents one of the main challenges facing countries, especially developing and medium-developed countries, before any exceptional circumstances.El-Said highlighted that Egypt had the financial space that enabled it to assist the economic sectors during the pandemic, as a result of the economic reform program adopted by Egypt.El-Said indicated that it is important to set priorities, which came on top of activating demand and supply, by pumping more investments during the pandemic period.El-Said pointed to the 300% increase in the volume of investments in the communications and information technology sector, as it is the sector that accelerates the development process. This is in addition to the 100% increase in investments in the health and education sectors, indicating that there was a significant increase in the volume of investments to increase supply and revitalize the economy.In the same context, El-Said explained that the increase in demand was achieved through an increase in pensions and wages, in addition to providing a grant to irregular employment to revitalize the economy. El-Said confirmed that these measures were reflected in achieving positive growth rates from the highest growth rates at the time of the pandemic, reasonable inflation rates, and an unemployment rate between 7.5-8% during the pandemic.


El-Said added that the second crisis that Egypt is currently facing is the geopolitical crisis, which affects all development efforts and puts pressure on resources.El-Said explained that the Covid-19 pandemic was taken advantage of as an opportunity to focus on many structural reforms, part of which is related to the economy.El-Said touched on the analysis of the financing situation, referring to the Financing for Development report, which analyzes the current situation and sets a set of recommendations for the future, which include what is related to mixed financing and sustainability tools.El-Said pointed out that during the pandemic, Egypt launched the largest development initiative in the world during the pandemic, which is the initiative for a decent life that targets the 17 UN international goals.El-Said addressed the discussion about the COP27 summit on climate change, explaining that in preparation for the summit, Egypt targets several points that include a group of low-emissions projects, so-called "Green Projects" during the coming period, including the green hydrogen project.
El-Said added that the state has developed a set of sustainability guidelines for the government and the private sector, explaining that this year 30% of the state's projects are green, and next year the target is to approach 40% and reach 50% in 2024/2025.