On the sidelines of her participation in the annual meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group: The Minister of Planning and Economic Development participates in the side event "Shari'a-Compliant Green Finance"

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and IsDB Governor participated in the side event entitled “Shari'a-Compliant Green Finance”, which was held virtually on the sidelines of the Bank Group’s annual meetings of its boards of governors, in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan.

During her speech, Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, reviewed the policies adopted by Egypt to facilitate the transition of government and private sector investment towards a green economy, pointing out that Egypt launched the first phase of the economic reform program.

El-Said explained that one of the main results of this program is the rationalization of fuel consumption and enhance energy efficiency, which helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in Egypt.

El-Said also indicated that the government also launched a “pricing tariff for renewable energy, to encourage the private sector to invest in this important sector, adding that as a result, Egypt now includes the largest solar power plant in the world in Benban, Aswan, which was established through a multilateral partnership between the public and private sectors to generate 2 gigawatts of electricity and create decent job opportunities for the local community in Aswan.



El-Said added that Egypt also hosts one of the largest wind stations in the world in the Gulf of Suez (Gebel El-Zeit), with a capacity of 300 turbines covering 100 square kilometers, and generating a total capacity of 580 megawatts, explaining that this station was designed in an environmentally friendly manner that allows it to be closed during the migration season.

El-Said also pointed out that the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development, in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment, launched a guide to environmental sustainability standards, intending to green the national investment plan and budget, following up that within the framework of that guide, 30% of the projects included in the investment plan for the current fiscal year are green projects.



The Egyptian government also aims to reach 50% by the fiscal year 2024/2025.

El-Said added that the Ministry of Planning, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, issued green bonds worth $750 million, to mobilize resources for green projects, especially in the field of clean transportation, so that Egypt became the first country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)region to launch green bonds.

El-Said also indicated the launch of the second phase of the National Structural Reform Program (NSRP), which includes a wide range of radical and well-targeted reforms at the structural and legal levels, to achieve balanced, green, and inclusive growth, as well as increasing the resilience of the Egyptian economy and its ability to absorb shocks.


El-Said explained that the program aims to transforming the Egyptian economy into a more productive and knowledge-based economy and promoting decent job opportunities by increasing the relative weight of three leading sectors: industry, agriculture, communications, and information technology.


El-Said stressed that Egypt is currently preparing two national strategies represented in the national strategy for climate change, following the mandate issued by the Supreme Council for Climate Change headed by the Prime Minister, stressing that it is taken into account that this strategy is consistent with the updated Vision 2030, while it includes all aspects of climate change, in addition to the National Hydrogen Strategy, to explore opportunities to produce, use and transport hydrogen as an energy source, especially blue and green hydrogen.




El-Said added that an inter-ministerial committee was formed to develop a set of economic incentives to promote the green transformation of the private sector in Egypt, noting that the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development signed a memorandum of understanding with the Alexandria Businessmen Association to support efforts towards green transformation.


El-Said concluded by saying that developing countries should be able to assess their needs, clearly assess the financial gaps when it comes to green finance and the climate, focus on the main and most vulnerable sectors, take advantage of opportunities and meet their challenges, stressing that this cannot be done without adequate support, including Funding, capacity building, and technology transfer.


It is noteworthy that the meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group will be held this year in Uzbekistan from September 1 to September 4.