The Minister of Planning and Economic Development meets with IsDB Head to discuss the position of issues of cooperation

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Governor of Egypt at the Islamic Development Bank Group met with Dr. Mohamed bin Suleiman Al-Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB), to discuss the position of issues of cooperation between Egypt and the Bank Group. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the forty-sixth annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank, held in Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan, from 1 to 4 September.At the beginning of the meeting, El-Said congratulated Dr. Muhammad bin Sulaiman Al-Jasser on the occasion of assuming his new position as President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, wishing him success in leading the work of the Bank Group in the next stageEl-Said reviewed the most important files managed by the ministry and in which cooperation can be made with the Bank Group, including efforts to develop the development planning system and implement entrepreneurship programs.El-Said stressed that achieving sustainable development is one of the areas of common interest within the framework of Egypt's 2030 strategy and vision, which can represent a promising field of cooperation between the ministry and the Islamic Development Bank, especially in light of Egypt's modernization of the strategy for sustainable development 2030. El-Said pointed out the importance of the bank’s contribution to supporting the health sector, as it is one of the priority sectors for the Egyptian state during the current stage.



El-Said explained that the officials of the bank’s regional office were provided with requests for financing the needs received from both El-Nas’s Hospital and the 57357 Hospital, in the context of the importance of focusing, during the current stage, on initiatives that achieve immediate successes and immediate gains.El-Said praised the role of the Islamic Development Bank in providing scholarships to Egyptian scholars, which culminated in 14 Egyptian students winning competitive scholarships offered by the bank within the framework of the scholarship program for undergraduate studies, the scholarship program for masters, the doctoral program, and post-doctoral research in various disciplines.El-Said highlighted the importance of reconsidering the form of the partnership contract that the Islamic Bank concludes with the winners of the Bank’s scholarships, and expressing the desire for the Bank to expand the provision of grants to pre-university levels in Egyptian public universities, by providing scholarships to students from Arab and OIC countries.El-Said indicated that the bank can contribute to the "Education Fund", which represents a charitable "endowment" in favor of supporting education in Egypt in light of the proposal sent by officials of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development to officials of the bank's regional office in Cairo during August 2021.El-Said added that one of the promising areas of cooperation between Egypt and the Bank is the implementation of women's empowerment programs in light of Egyptian efforts to implement strategic programs for women's empowerment, and the Islamic Development Bank's support for national women's mechanisms to achieve greater equality between women and men.El-Said praised the role of the Islamic Development Bank in supporting Egypt’s efforts to host the headquarters of the Organization of Women’s Development of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, launching its activities and activating its role through the Bank’s approval of financing a grant for technical support in favor of the organization for $150,000, which is under discussion between the Bank and the organization’s officials.El-Said concluded her speech, wishing that this meeting had contributed to opening up areas for an in-depth discussion on the various potential areas of cooperation, among which also comes the financial inclusion sector, which is a priority sector because of the current crisis, as well as the logistics sector, which serves various sectors.