Planning Minister Discusses Enhanced Cooperation with Islamic Trade and Development Institutions

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Egypt’s Governor at the Islamic Development Bank Group, met with Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and Acting CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), along with their teams. The meeting aimed to review the status of cooperation between Egypt and these institutions.

During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said praised the ITFC’s efforts under its annual work program with Egypt for 2024, which was signed last February for $1.5 billion with both the Egyptian General Authority for Supply Commodities and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

El-Said highlighted the initiation of the second phase of the Women in International Trade in Egypt project (She Trades 2), with a budget allocation of $350,000 from the AfTIAS 2 program and $150,000 from the Islamic Development Bank. She mentioned the convening of the project’s steering committee technical meeting.

The Minister thanked Eng. Hani Sonbol for the invitation to participate in the 2024 Board of Governors meeting of the Bridges Program in Tunisia in July. She noted that Egypt hosted the third meeting in March 2022 in Cairo, attended by 10 ministers from member countries and heads of member institutions. During the meeting, the chairmanship of the Board of Governors will be handed over from Egypt to Tunisia. She commended the ongoing efforts to draft the fourth annual program for Egypt under the Arab-Africa Trade Bridges (AATB) program, followed by the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the ITFC to launch the annual program.

El-Said also lauded the outcomes of activities implemented under the third annual program of the AATB. These included sending trade missions from Egyptian companies to participate in exporter-importer meetings in the pharmaceutical, food, agricultural, and engineering sectors in Tunisia, Morocco, Congo, and Algeria during 2022 and 2023.

Regarding training programs between the two parties, El-Said praised the results of the ongoing program to qualify and train 50 women for export in the fields of handicrafts and heritage. This program aims to support and develop the export capacities of 50 projects owned or managed by women in these sectors. She also commended the outcomes of the Step Toward Export (STEP) training program, conducted in collaboration with the ITFC, the Foreign Trade Training Center, and the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA). Since its inception in January 2023, the program has seen the graduation of the first batch of 200 trainees from various governorates, including 20 individuals with disabilities.

El-Said emphasized the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development’s commitment to coordinating with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and MSMEDA to follow up on the implementation of the second phase of the STEP training program in collaboration with the Foreign Trade Training Center.

She also praised the outcomes of the collaboration between the Trade Development Fund and Misr El-Kheir Foundation under the “Bab Rizq” project, which established a complete production unit for textiles in Beni Suef Governorate. This project aims to economically and skillfully empower beneficiaries to produce high-quality textiles, spurring economic activity in neighboring projects within the Wasta Market area.

For his part, Eng. Hani Sonbol emphasized the commitment of both the ITFC and ICD to continue supporting Egypt in key sectors such as energy, food commodities, and the private sector, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and women’s participation in trade under the AfTIAS and AATB programs. He expressed eagerness for further cooperation in various fields, aligned with Egypt’s national development strategy.

Regarding ongoing cooperation between Egypt and the ICD, El-Said expressed the desire to strengthen collaboration between the ICD and Egypt’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, the state’s investment arm, in alignment with the national structural reform program, the State Ownership Policy Document, and other national plans and strategies aimed at encouraging the Egyptian private sector. This collaboration aims to develop an integrated strategy outlining mechanisms to support private sector activities in Egypt through various financial services, forming a roadmap for future cooperation between the two sides.