Ministry of Planning sheds light on two years of cooperation between Egypt and the Islamic Bank Group
05 January 2021
Egypt is ranked third
among the top ten countries most benefiting from the funds of the Islamic Bank
Group, with an amount of $ 12.7 billion: says Hala El-Said
Dr. Hala El-Said,
Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Governor of Egypt at the Islamic
Development Bank Group announced the results of cooperation between Egypt and
the Bank Group within two years (August 2018 - December 2020).
On Egypt's
relationship with the Islamic Development Bank Group, Dr. Hala El-Said said
that Egypt is one of the founding countries of the Islamic Development Bank,
explaining that Egypt joined the bank’s membership in 1974 and has a permanent
seat in the Board of Executive Directors.
She added that Egypt
ranks seventh among the largest contributing countries and the owner of the
largest number of shares in the bank, with 357,965 shares, or 7.07%, its
capital subscription amounts to $ 5 billion.
El-Said pointed out
that Egypt ranks third among the top ten countries most benefiting from the
total appropriations of the Islamic Bank Group amounting to $ 12.7 billion, and
the projects financed in Egypt are distributed according to the position on
implementation as follows: 238 projects have been approved ($ 12.7 billion),
287 projects completed ($ 9.7 billion), 51 projects are ongoing ($ 3 billion).
This report is
entailing the most important results of the cooperation between Egypt and the Islamic
Development Bank
During the period from
August 2018 - December 2020, an agreement was signed between the government of
the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Islamic Development Bank Group in October
2018 to establish a representative office for the Islamic Development Bank
Group in the Arab Republic of Egypt with all facilities granted for the
establishment of the office headquarters, the appointment of employees and the
completion of the implementation procedures to activate this agreement.
In the same month, a
strategic cooperation agreement was signed between the Arab Republic of Egypt
and the Islamic Development Bank for the period from 2019 to 2021, which
included providing financing of about $ 3 billion for several projects in
development areas that have priority for the Egyptian government, especially in
the fields of energy and infrastructure.
In April 2019, Egypt
participated in the opening of the 44th session of the annual meetings of the
Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank, which was held in
Marrakesh, Morocco, on 5 and 6 April 2019.
The results of the
cooperation also included the holding of the "Transformers Roadshow"
scientific competition in Cairo for the first time, during November 2019, which
comes within the framework of the activities of the "Transformation"
Fund to support science, technology, and innovation initiatives that have been
established by the Islamic Development Bank since 2018.
During December 2019,
a cooperation protocol was signed between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia project
to benefit from the sacrifice (Ad-Dahaya) (Act of killing an animal or person
and offering them to a god) and the Egyptian government to organize the sale of
these sacrifices to Egyptian pilgrims.
About the results of
cooperation with the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, it
included the signing of two framework agreements between the Arab Republic of
Egypt and the Corporation during September 2018 to finance the supply of
strategic goods for the benefit of Egypt through the institution, and during
December 2018, the implementation of (4) projects in the fields of
qualification and employment were completed. Youth in trade, addressing
non-tariff measures to enhance intra-trade and enhancing labor skills in the
food and home furnishing industries.
Moreover, the
above-mentioned co-operation included the establishment of a specialized
department to promote exports within the Egyptian Export Development Bank to
provide better support to exporters, under the umbrella of the first phase of
the Aid for Trade Initiative for Arab Countries (FTIAS) program, which Egypt
contributes to its budget, and during October 2019 the Arab Republic of Egypt
was officially joined To the Arab-African Trade Bridges Program (Phase II).
The cooperation with
the corporation also included the signing of the corporation's financing
program for 2020 during December 2019, which includes providing $ 700 million
to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation, of which $ 300 million has been
disbursed to date and $ 400 million to the General Authority for Supply
Commodities, of which $ 282 million has been disbursed to date.
Also, during December, a cooperation program
was signed with the General Authority for the Development of Egyptian Exports
that includes a work plan according to which the program would implement some
projects in support of Egyptian exporters during the years 2020 and 2021.
In June
2020, a meeting was held with Eng. Hany Sonbol - CEO of the International
Islamic Corporation for Financing Trade during the visit of his Excellency to
Cairo to discuss the position of cooperation issues between the Arab Republic
of Egypt and the Corporation, as the total amounts approved by the Corporation
in favor of Egypt amount to 11.2 billion US dollars during the period from
(1985-2020) to finance the import of petroleum and its products in addition to
food commodities and other products.
During the period from
October to November 2020, coordination was made with the Egyptian Banking
Institute to provide training for a total of 44 trainees from the Ministry of
Supply and Internal Trade and the General Authority for Supply Commodities
within the framework of the "Integrated Business Solutions" program.
The program included
implementing three training courses during the period from October 12 to
November 28, 2020, on the following topics: How to prepare financial
statements, final accounts, the budget, and the budget for the government
sector (22 trainees); Commercial banking transactions related to the import of
goods (such as opening credits and letters of guarantee) (16 trainees);
commercial transactions related to receiving goods, such as inspection and
quality, especially for crops (6 trainees).
About the results of
cooperation between Egypt and the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of
Investment and Export Credit of the Bank Group, it was represented by a meeting
with representatives of the Corporation headed by Osama Abdel-Rahman Al-Qaisi,
CEO of the Corporation during December 2018 to discuss ways of cooperation and
a mechanism to encourage the services sector in countries that have achieved a
breakthrough in this The sector and the possibility of applying these
experiences in Egypt.
The Islamic
Development Bank was established within the framework of the Statement of
Determination issued by the Conference of Islamic Finance Ministers which was
held in the city of Jeddah in December 1973.
The bank was
officially inaugurated in October 1975, with its headquarters in Jeddah in the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the bank aims to support the economic and social
development of the peoples of the member states and Islamic societies in
non-member countries, collectively and separately, following the principles of
Islamic Sharia.
The bank works to
achieve its goals by contributing to project capital, providing loans and
financing facilities to productive institutions and projects in member states,
as well as providing various forms of development assistance to finance trade
and combating poverty through human development and economic cooperation.
It also works to
enhance the role of Islamic finance in economic and social development. The
bank includes in its membership 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic
Cooperation, and the bank has eleven regional headquarters, including its
headquarters in Cairo.