During her visit to the headquarters of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah: The Minister of Planning and Economic Development meets the CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC)

Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Governor of Egypt at the Islamic Development Bank Group met with Engineer Hani Sonbol, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation of the Bank Group, during her visit to the headquarters of the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting was attended by Dr. Nada Masoud, Economic Advisor to the Minister of Planning, Ambassador Hazem Khairat, Director of the International Relations Department at the Ministry of Planning, and Professor Kamal Nasr, supervisor of the Technical Office of the Minister of Planning.During the meeting, Dr. Hala El-Said reviewed the most important developments regarding the existing areas of cooperation between Egypt and the Foundation.El-Said indicated that the Arab Republic of Egypt hosted the third meeting of the Governance Council of the Arab-African Trade Bridges Program, where the new date proposed by the Foundation was confirmed to hold the meeting on 14-15 March 2022 in Cairo.El-Said pointed out that coordination is already underway between the work team at the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and the Program Department at the Foundation to cooperate on all activities that will be held on the sidelines of the meeting and all necessary logistical arrangements in this regard.El-Said welcomed the participation of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation )ITFC) in the Summit of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 27) for the year 2022, which will be hosted by the Arab Republic of Egypt in Sharm El-Sheikh.


El-Said also confirmed the invitation to Engineer Hani Sonbol, CEO of the Foundation, to participate in the activities of the fourth edition of the Arab Week for Sustainable Development in the Arab Republic of Egypt during the period from 13 to 15 February.Regarding the position on signing the Corporation’s work program for 2022, El-Said said that coordination is currently underway with the concerned authorities (Ministries of International Cooperation - Supply and Internal Trade - Petroleum) to sign the Corporation’s financing program for Egypt for the year 2022 in February 2022, as Egypt received the draft of the program.El-Said confirmed that 2021 is a record year for financing interventions by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation in Egypt.El-Said shed light on the project proposal to establish the first export academy in Egypt, where the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development conducted the necessary coordination between the Egyptian Exporters Association (Expo Link) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.El-Said explained that a proposal has already been prepared for the establishment of the academy, and it is proposed that it be managed through the private sector, as the sector concerned with export; which maximizes the benefit of its activity.On the initiatives to empower women economically in cooperation with the Foundation, El-Said explained that in the framework of cooperation with the Foundation to achieve integration with the initiatives to support and empower women economically, which are adopted by the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt, coordination has been made with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to prepare a proposal aimed at supporting the capabilities and developing the capabilities of women working in the field Traditional and handicrafts, and increase their ability to export abroad.El-Said also discussed Egypt's second annual program within the Arab-African Trade Bridges Program (AATB).After her speech, Dr. Hala El-Said praised the role of the Foundation's Trade Development Fund (Waqf Fund) in providing sustainable financial resources to support the design and implementation of trade development activities and projects in member countries.
Dr. Hala El-Said toured the foundation's headquarters, accompanied by Engineer Hani Sonbol, and met with some workers and experts, exchanging greetings with them and meeting memorial photos.