Minister of Planning Witnesses the Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and an Agreement between the National Management Institute and Sawiris Foundation for Social Development

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, witnessed today the signing of a memorandum of understanding and an agreement between the National Management Institute, the training arm of the Ministry, and Sawiris Foundation for Social Development on joint cooperation in supporting the building and development of human capacity.

The memorandum was signed by Dr. Sherifa Sharif, Executive Director of the National Management Institute, and Engineer Noura Salim, Executive Director of Sawiris Foundation for Social Development. An agreement was signed on a grant provided by the Foundation to the Institute worth 4 million pounds, to support the implementation of the activities of the "Development of Government Leadership" training program.

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, explained that the signing of the memorandum is the result of full awareness of the importance of cooperation between institutions supporting the process of sustainable human development and in recognition of the key role played by the Institute in training, qualifying and raising the skills of Egyptian cadres in management, leadership and related areas.

El-Said continued that the joint cooperation between the Institute and the Foundation with the signing of this agreement comes within the framework of spreading and promoting the principles of governance and good leadership with the aim of achieving sustainable development in accordance with Egypt Vision 2030 and based on the joint desire between the Institute and the Foundation to establish and support the training, rehabilitation and educational cooperation of the administrative staff of the Egyptian state in areas of mutual interest.

Dr. Sherifa Sharif, Executive Director of the National Management Institute, expressed the institute's pride in collaborating with Sawiris Foundation for Social Development for the second time in a training package in collaboration with the University of Missouri.

Rami Galal, advisor to the Minister of Planning and Economic Development for Media and spokesperson for MPED, said that the grant from Sawiris Foundation for Social Development will be directed to support the implementation of the institute's activities in building and developing the human capacities of employees of the Egyptian state administrative system, especially the implementation of "Development of Government Leadership” training program.

Galal highlighted the significance of Sawiris Foundation support and its participation in the training program in collaboration with the University of Missouri, which aims to send 32 trainees from the government sector for training in the United States of America, explaining that the stages of the program begin with training in Cairo and the State of Missouri.

Eng. Noora Salim, Executive Director of Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, expressed her pleasure in collaborating with the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development for the second time to support the capacity-building of the government and private sectors. She referred to the success of the first cooperation, namely the launch of the executive education program with the University of Chicago Booth under the auspices of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development.

Salim added that the first phase of the training program has enrolled 46 senior executives in the private and government sectors in a program that is the first of its kind, explaining that after the success of the first course, the program will continue for two years.

Salim expressed the Foundation's interest in launching a new cooperation with the National Management Institute focused on supporting 32 representatives of the government sector to enroll them in study at the University of Missouri in America, explaining that the program will start with on-line study in Cairo followed by 10 days of training in the United States, stressing the Foundation's interest in education and supporting various government efforts.

It is worth mentioning that the National Management Institute is a public economic body of a training, advisory and research nature under presidential decree No. 368 of 2006 issued on October 19, 2006. The Institute serves as a center of local and regional excellence that achieves leadership and is concerned with innovation in the construction and development of integrated administrative and technological systems.

The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development was established in 2001 with the aim of providing a leading model for the role of civil society organizations as a partner in development in Egypt by supporting key development initiatives and projects to achieve the objectives of its core areas of work.