IsDB countries praise “The Decent Life” presidential initiative: Minister of Planning

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Governor of Egypt at the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), participated this year in the 46th annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group.On the sidelines of her participation, Her Excellency held many bilateral meetings with the leaders of the Bank and the Ministers of Uzbekistan. She also participated in some side events during the meeting.Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, started her meetings with Eng. Hani Sonbol, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation ((ITFC), where they discussed the position of issues of cooperation between Egypt and the institution such as the establishment of an exporters academy.El-Said also met with Mr. Osama Al-Qaisi, CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit - the insurance arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group, to discuss aspects of cooperation between Egypt and the institution. Its services are particularly concerning investment guarantee and export credit.


The bilateral meetings included Dr. Hala El-Said’s meeting with Dr. Muhammad bin Suleiman Al-Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, to discuss the position of issues of cooperation between Egypt and the Bank Group.Dr. Hala El-Said also met with Dr. Jamshid Kuchkarov. Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan for financial and economic issues and poverty reduction, where the two sides discussed during the meeting areas of cooperation between the two countries and what is related to common files.El-Said also met with Mr. Ayman Al-Sajini, CEO of the Private Sector Development Corporation, one of the member institutions of the Islamic Bank Group concerned with developing the private sector in the member states. The meeting touched upon cooperation in the field of Islamic sukuk in light of the institution's experience in this field. The two parties also discussed encouraging the role of the private sector, the accumulated experience of the Foundation and the Islamic Bank, and the Foundation’s role, especially in stimulating the private sector during the pandemic, as well as discussing cooperation in the field of women’s economic empowerment in many projects.El-Said concluded the set of bilateral meetings with a meeting with Mr. Umurzakov Oktamovich, Deputy Prime Minister for Investment and Foreign Economic Affairs and Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, to discuss opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.During the meeting, El-Said emphasized the remarkable progress of relations between Egypt and Uzbekistan over the past years, especially during the visit of the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2018, expressing her gratitude for visiting the Republic of Uzbekistan for the first time, and the opportunity to discuss potential opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.At the opening of the 46th annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Dr. Hala El-Said gave her speech, which revolved around the changes that the world is currently witnessing as a result of the Corona pandemic, and the policies taken by Egypt to confront the crisis.Her Excellency also participated in the side event entitled “Sharia-compliant Green Finance” held virtually on the sidelines of the Bank Group’s annual meetings of its Boards of Governors, in addition to her participation in the Governors Round Table, during which she emphasized that it is one of the main factors for the success of the Egyptian experience in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.


During the meetings, Egypt succeeded in obtaining the approval of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank to organize the annual meetings of the bank’s governors next year.
Moreover, Dr. Hala El-Said submitted Egypt’s request to the Board of Governors of the Bank and confirmed Egypt’s desire to host the annual meetings to emphasize the importance of the Egyptian role within the Islamic Bank.El-Said also announced that Egypt will host for the first time the third meeting of the Governance Council of the Arab-African Trade Bridges Program next December, to take over the presidency of the council for a year.At the end of her visit to Uzbekistan, El-Said clarified that the Islamic Development Bank's portfolio with the Arab Republic of Egypt exceeded $13 billion.El-Said confirmed that Egypt is one of the founding countries of the Islamic Development Bank Group, following up on that Egypt has more than 345 projects in various fields such as infrastructure, new and renewable energy, supply commodities, investment in the human element, and agriculture.El-Said explained that a large group of projects amounting to about 290 projects have been completed, and another group is being completed.On the small and medium enterprises sector, El-Said confirmed that the sector enjoys great support from the Islamic Development Bank Group, explaining that the bank group includes many institutions, including the institution for supporting trade and another concerned with securing trade and investment, as well as a special institution for supporting the private sector.In her statements, El-Said asserted that Egypt is one of 11 member states that includes a branch of the Islamic Bank, which indicates political and economic stability and sustainable development in Egypt in the current period.