Planning Ministry runs a side event on the sidelines of the Global Forum on Financing for Development 2021

 Egypt has pumped EGP 100 billion to work on a revitalization package to support the sectors affected by the Corona crisis, at 2% of the GDP: says Hala El-Said

 The Ministry of Planning and Economic Development held a side event entitled “The Challenges of Financing Sustainable Development: Before and After the Spread of the Coronavirus Pandemic,” in cooperation with the League of Arab States, on the sidelines of the activities of the Sixth Global Forum on Financing Development 2021.El-Said said during her opening speech via video conference that Egypt is committed to implementing the 2030 Agenda and is keen to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, noting that Egypt has progressed in the Sustainable Development Goals Index, ranking 83 out of 166 countries compared to 92nd out of 162 countries in 2019, while Egypt has been ranked 4 out of 47 African countries ranked in 2020.El-Said said that the Egyptian government is working to build capacity and strengthen companies with stakeholders to achieve the goals and pillars of the sustainable development agenda: Egypt's Vision 2030, adding that providing the necessary funding for the 2030 Agenda is a major challenge at the global, local and national level, noting that facing this challenge requires Significant increase in investment through many diverse sources, and a change in the vision around priorities is required.El-Said pointed out that, before the Corona pandemic, the main issue of providing funding for development at the global level was related to the efficiency of the ability to provide financial resources, so that the matter is different after the Corona pandemic as a result of the negative impact on global and private economies.El-Said explained that the matter in Egypt was related to providing the necessary funding to achieve development, which is one of the four challenges that were discussed during the high-level political forum.El-Said stressed during her speech that the governments can only work to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic and create more job opportunities, noting that Egypt has pumped EGP 100 billion within the framework of a stimulus package that supports the sectors affected by the crisis of the "Covid-19" pandemic, which represents 2% of the total gross product.El-Said continued talking about the measures taken by the government, pointing to the acceleration of the transition towards a green and resilient economy by issuing green bonds and Sukuk, making Egypt the first in the Middle East and North Africa region to issue green bonds, as well as adopting sustainability standards to ensure the transition to a green economy.El-Said stressed the importance of taking practical steps to implement the "Environmental Sustainability Standards" guide, by spreading the culture of sustainability, and defining mechanisms for monitoring performance indicators for all sectors, to measure progress in the set goal through the implementation of projects and activities that have priority in the financing and have a positive impact on the environment.El-Said added that it is intended to increase public investments directed to green projects from 15% in the current year (20/2021) plan, to 30% in the fiscal year (21/2022) plan.El-Said pointed to the effective participation of the private sector in the transformation towards sustainable financings, such as the main banks, the Commercial International Bank, and the Central Bank, which directed the various banks to establish a unit for financial inclusion.Meanwhile, Mahmoud Mohieldin, Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund and the United Nations Envoy for Sustainable Development Financing, said during his speech that economic reforms in Egypt are the basis for efforts to achieve sustainable development goals if they are built upon to achieve the goals of the announced initiatives on increasing exports, digital transformation, and localizing development.Mohieldin went on to call for providing support for these initiatives through three important investments in human capital (education, health, and social security) and infrastructure (roads, utilities, public utility projects, energy, and electricity, as well as the utmost importance of investment in digital transformation), as well as investment in sustainability (fields Supporting financing to achieve sustainable development goals, address climate change, and build a green economy).Mohieddin stressed that these investments require the collection of the necessary financing from all available sources, whether it is public and private financing, or internal and external financing, with the importance of attracting foreign investments as an important source of financing, knowledge, and developing efficiency.
The side event discussed many issues, most notably the challenges posed by the Corona pandemic to efforts to finance sustainable development, especially in developing countries, as well as Egypt's intention to issue a national report on financing for development.