On the sidelines of her representation of Egypt in the high-level political forum on sustainable development in New York: Planning Minister discusses ways of cooperation with her Pakistani counterpart

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, met on Thursday with Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of Planning, Development, and Reform of Pakistan; to discuss ways of cooperation between Egypt and Pakistan.
This was on the sidelines of its representation of Egypt at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2022 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, held under the theme "Building back better after the COVID-19 pandemic, while promoting the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development".

At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said congratulated; Mr. Ehsan Iqbal was recently appointed as the Minister of Planning, Development, and Reform of Pakistan last April.
 El-Said pointed to the opportunities for regional economic cooperation between Egypt and Pakistan, which is considered a major regional hub between the various surrounding regions.


During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said emphasized that there is an urgent need for innovative policy responses to the crisis of emerging markets, including Egypt and Pakistan, which are burdened by food and fuel costs in addition to other international fluctuations and changes.

In the same context, El-Said affirmed that Egypt welcomes the promotion of the development of bilateral cooperation and the exchange of experiences in various fields between Egypt and Pakistan.

During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said reviewed the features of the Egyptian experience in economic and social reform, where she referred to the efforts of the Egyptian state in achieving sustainable development goals through Egypt's Vision 2030.

El-Said confirmed that the state continues to complete the successful implementation of the national program for economic and social reform, which it started in 2016.
El-Said referred to the state ownership policy document, which aims to define the state's policy towards the assets owned by it, and the logic of its presence in economic activity during the next stage.

 El-Said explained that the document identified 3 directions of state ownership and its presence in economic activity, including the complete exit from the number of activities within 3 years.
El-Said also referred to Egypt's hosting of the COP 27 Climate Summit in Sharm El-Sheikh next November, stressing that the summit opens the door to more opportunities for cooperation and partnerships, expands the scope of collective green recovery, and mobilizes all stakeholders to actively participate in climate action.

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development; A book on the mosques of Egypt to Mr. Ahsan Iqbal, Minister of Planning, Development, and Reform of Pakistan.

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development received last February a high-level Pakistani delegation from various Pakistani government departments to get acquainted with the Egyptian efforts exerted in the framework of achieving the objectives of Egypt's Vision 2030, the economic reform measures, and the "Dignified Life" initiative.

It is worth mentioning that Pakistan is the current chair of the Group of 77, the largest intergovernmental grouping of developing countries in the United Nations, and it has an important role to play on behalf of developing countries in support of ongoing efforts to address debt restructuring and to provide concessional financing.