Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development discusses aspects of cooperation with (ITFC)

H.E. Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Governor of Egypt at the Islamic Development Bank Group met with Eng. Hani Sonbol, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) - one of the Bank's institutions -; to discuss the position of issues of cooperation between the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Foundation.During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said referred to Egypt's hosting of the third meeting of the Governance Board of the Arab-African Trade Bridges Program, as well as the annual meeting of the Board of Governors of the Islamic Development Bank to be held in Sharm El-Sheikh in June 2022.El-Said also stressed that Egypt is at the forefront of countries that abide by its commitments to the Bank Group.During the meeting, the two parties discussed the position of implementing the institution’s work program for the year 2021, which was signed remotely last January.The meeting highlighted that 2021 witnessed an increase in the financing portfolio of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation in Egypt.El-Said indicated that the Foundation implemented programs and activities in the field of trade and business development in its 2021 financing plan for Egypt.El-Said explained that the Arab and African Trade Bridges Program in Egypt supports Egyptian exporters in cooperation with relevant Egyptian bodies, especially the Export Development Authority (EDA), where two workshops were held for Egyptian exporters in the Cairo governorate during 2020 and Damietta governorate during 2021.
 A training course on "Enhancing the Understanding of International Trade for Entrepreneurs" was also organized in cooperation between the program and the "Egyptian Exporters Association - Expolink", the "National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development" (NIGSD), and the "Foreign Trade Training Center", in addition to holding a training program for exporters in Cairo governorate.


Concerning the She Trades project, the Minister of Planning and Economic Development said that two outputs from the program have been achieved; Strengthen the capacities of the Export Development Authority (EDA) and selected trade support institutions to enable women-owned SMEs to sell in local and regional markets, and increase women-owned SMEs' capacities to sell in local and regional markets.El-Said referred to the projects in which Egypt seeks to obtain the foundation's support; These include improving the capabilities of institutions responsible for developing exports, increasing access to foreign markets, enhancing Egypt's role with Arab countries in global value chains, refining the skills of youth and women, and developing small and medium enterprises in the field of e-commerce.In the field of digitization, the Minister of Planning and Economic Development said that during 2021 ITFC contacted the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and the General Authority for Supply Commodities to present the proposed digital solutions within the framework of Egypt's 2030 vision for digital transformation.