Dr. Rania Al-Mashat Discusses with the Kuwaiti Minister of Finance Strengthening Economic Relations, Investments, and Mechanisms of Integration in Light of Global Economic Disruptions

12 April 2025
During the Activities of the Joint Annual Meetings of the Arab Financial Institutions in Kuwait:
Dr. Rania Al-Mashat Discusses with the Kuwaiti Minister of Finance Strengthening Economic Relations, Investments, and Mechanisms of Integration in Light of Global Economic Disruptions
"Al-Mashat": The government is working on implementing the structural reform program to improve the business environment, support macroeconomic stability, and stimulate local and foreign investments.
Expanding the scope of international partnerships to provide more guarantees and financing from development partners to the private sector in Egypt.
H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, Minister of Planning and
Economic Development and International Cooperation, met with H.E. Eng. Noura
Sulaiman Al-Fassam, Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Economic
Affairs and Investment of the State of Kuwait, during the activities of the Joint
Annual Meetings of the Arab Financial Institutions held in the State of Kuwait.
The two ministers discussed ways to enhance joint
cooperation between Egypt and Kuwait. The meeting also touched on developments
in the economic situation and challenges at the regional and international
levels, in light of recent economic developments.
The two sides reviewed areas of joint work between the two
countries regarding planning, economic development, and international
cooperation. The meeting also addressed ways to strengthen the brotherly
bilateral relations and the close ties that bind the two countries. A number of
topics and issues of mutual interest were also discussed.
At the beginning of the meeting, H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat
commended the bilateral relations between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the
State of Kuwait, considering them a model of well-established relations in the
Middle East, as they are historical, extended, and growing relations,
particularly in light of the continuous attention and support they receive from
the political leadership in both countries.
H.E. Minister Al-Mashat emphasized that the relations
between the two countries are expanding to include many areas of joint
cooperation, including economy, culture, education, and others. Kuwait is
considered one of Egypt's most prominent economic partners in the Middle East,
as the interests of the two countries are intertwined in various fields. The
relations between Egypt and Kuwait are not limited to bilateral aspects but
extend to regional and international cooperation, where the two countries, in
light of current regional and international challenges, exchange views and
cooperate on many regional and international issues of mutual concern.
H.E. Dr. Al-Mashat also highlighted the state's efforts to
support industrial development, increase the volume of trade and commodity
exports, focus on entrepreneurship projects, macroeconomic stability, and at
the same time encourage competitiveness and empower the private sector through
structural reforms. The structural reforms are based on three main pillars:
enhancing the competitiveness of the Egyptian economy and improving the
business environment, supporting macroeconomic resilience, and stimulating the
green transition. This is to enhance the attraction of local and foreign
investments, especially from the sisterly State of Kuwait. She praised the role
of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development in supporting development
projects in Egypt, most notably the projects of the Sinai Peninsula Development
Program.
H.E. Minister Al-Mashat pointed out the Ministry's endeavor
to diversify the sources of financing available to the private sector from
international institutions and the ongoing work to activate the European
guarantees mechanism worth 1.8 billion euros, as well as expanding the scope of
tools available from other international institutions. She noted that the
development financing for the private sector from development partners amounted
to 4.2 billion dollars last year, exceeding for the first time the financing
directed to the government.
H.E. Dr. Rania Al-Mashat outlined the importance of the
joint Egyptian-Kuwaiti committee, which works to achieve the greatest possible
coordination and joint cooperation in areas of bilateral cooperation, in
addition to the two countries' connection through numerous cooperation protocols
between various institutions of the two countries.
H.E. Minister Al-Mashat noted the outcomes of the 13th
session of the Egyptian-Kuwaiti Joint Committee held in Cairo last September,
during which an executive program for the agreement on scientific and technical
cooperation between the government of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the
government of the State of Kuwait was signed.