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Egypt-ICF milestone in boosting sustainability, relevant int’l partnerships
The first Egypt – International Cooperation Forum (Egypt-ICF) marked a milestone in giving a push to the international march of sustainable development and promoting multilateral partnership for inclusive and green recovery.
Egypt-ICF – which was held on September 8-9 under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi – underlined in its recommendations the importance of multilateral cooperation as the only way to realize sustainable and comprehensive recovery and overcome the current challenges, especially those that surfaced during the coronavirus pandemic crisis.
The recommendations – which were announced by Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Rania Mashat – stressed that governments, international financial institutions, private sector and civil society should join hands to build effective partnerships in order to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
The Egypt -ICF also highlighted the importance of getting international partnerships to enhance the role of the private sector in the development process, especially through securing financial resources, technical support and entrenching environment and social standards in all development projects.
The recommendations urged international institutions and the international community to give a larger space for the private sector to play its role as a key partner in the development process as it can play a pivotal role in supporting the United Nations development goals.
The recommendations also called for forming action groups among the parties concerned to determine structural reforms and economic policies to incentivize the private sector’s participation in the development process in addition to developing mechanisms for promoting partnerships between private and public sectors.
The Egypt-ICF recommendations also highlighted that infrastructure is one of the main sectors that suffer from financial gaps and this requires mobilizing resources through international cooperation and development financing in order to support the efforts being exerted by emerging and developing countries to develop their infrastructure.
The recommendations also underscored the importance of taking needed measures and reforms to encourage digital transformation which youths are leading in the African continent to promote its capabilities to join the march of development of the developed countries.
The recommendations also called for boosting digital investments, enhancing technological infrastructure and committing to the African Union’s agenda for digital transformation.
Vision of participating officials for enhancing private sector’s role:
Egyptian Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait said “We must rely on the private sector to finance Egypt’s economic growth and to create jobs. We have no other alternatives but to take this road,” referring to the private sector’s contribution to the largest solar power plant of Benban which is being carried out by Egypt.
Senegalese Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation Amadou Hott said “We need the business reforms to drive massively the private sector activities in our countries across all sectors. The reforms are such the one we are doing in the G20, which of course including Egypt and Senegal, is very important. The goal is for us to move to that place, where we can go to the capital market without any support to raise money for 30 years. You cannot do that without business, tax reforms, transparency and building confidence in the countries. The development object of Africa is urgent. We are in a hurry, we have a sense of urgency, 2030 is just next door for the development goals.”
Director General of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development Bader Al Saad said “Private sector engagement and contributions to development projects is no longer a luxury, but rather an urgent need. Private sector can enhance efficiency in management and boost productivity. The economic recovery of the Arab countries is in a time of unprecedented need for comprehensive, inclusive solutions, alongside with the implementation of the major projects that can overcome the development challenges facing these countries.”
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) Vice President Alain Pillpoux said “At EBRD, We are committed to allocating 75% of our resources to the private sector. We need to put our money where our mouths are; our actions must always be consistent with our work. Stability and credibility are important to have private sector-led growth.”
Senior Counselor and Head of OECD Development Cooperation Directorate Haje Schutte said “We believe, looking at figures of 2018, 2019, 2020 that we need to have a massive mindshift of donors’ communities from a lender to a mobilize. Data is key. We need more data from MDPs to better understand and build trust with the public and for the private sector.”
Head of Delegation representing the African Union Development Agency (NEPAD) Estherine Lisinge-Fotabong “Development is not just about money. It is about people and changing their lives. The last 18 months of the pandemic illustrated that we need to do more in addressing the inequalities of our communities. The private sector has a role to play in this transformation. There has to be a mindshift from short term relationships to long term relationships. We need to focus on how to get more venture capital and private equities crowded in; requiring to know how to use blended finance and grant money in investments vehicles to improve portfolio ratings. We need project to invest in, use technology to solve challenges and we need blending tools; with that we can go along way.”
Need for multilateralism:
With about 1,500 participants, the Egypt-ICF was meant to lay the foundations for sustainable recovery and push the international development agenda forward.
Bringing together all stakeholders is necessary for mitigating the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the perils of climate change.
During the forum’s inauguration, Egyptian International Cooperation Minister Rania Mashat said that “The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized that no country can remain in isolation, as global problems require global solutions.”
“The pandemic not only posed a health crisis to the world but also socioeconomic challenges,” said Mashat, elaborating that global recovery requires multilateral and bilateral cooperation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“While there is less than a decade left for the 2030 SDGs, it is necessary to evaluate what has been achieved despite the challenges of the pandemic to build back better, and towards a green and inclusive recovery,” added Mashat.
She emphasized the need to adopt innovative tools to be able to secure development funds through multilateral and bilateral cooperation, noting that the ongoing international cooperation portfolio in Egypt amounts to about $25 billion, earmarked for the implementation of a large number of development projects in various governorates, and across sectors.
The forum highlighted the national efforts across various development sectors, in addition to Egypt’s commitment to multilateralism in fostering development efforts.
The forum aimed at stimulating regional cooperation mechanisms in light of the African Free Trade Agreement and triangular cooperation as two effective tools to achieve international goals on the regional level as well as advancing Africa’s Agenda 2063.
The forum also addressed the potential limitations of financing mechanisms with the aim of revamping the process of mobilizing resources to bridge the financing gap hampering SDGs.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), only 1 percent of global assets worth $379 trillion are able to bridge this gap, requiring global coordination and cooperation alongside utilizing innovative financing tools such as blended finance.
The forum addressed the opportunities and challenges facing developing and emerging economies to achieve green transformation, promote the integration of climate action into global recovery strategies, and ensure that citizens can benefit from new economic opportunities, particularly in the African continent.
The forum’s closing session on “Investing in Human Capital” focused on the Egyptian experience to improve people’s livelihoods through the presidential initiative, “A Decent Life” alongside other national initiatives, highlighting the effective role of international cooperation and development financing, coupled with the Government of Egypt’s dedication to achieve progress.
Egypt’s efforts to achieve sustainable development goals:
She also highlighted that Egypt is positioning itself as a regional leader in promoting regional cooperation and transferring expertise and experience in development, explaining that achieving the sustainable development goals requires an effective system of governance that includes vigilant monitoring and analysis of the results and outputs produced in order to determine the impact and the progress that has been achieved.
She hoped that “success stories provide inspiration to governments and stakeholders to reduce the risk of future potential emergencies and deliver on the ambitious and inclusive vision of the 2030 Agenda.”
Traditional forms of governance are no longer fit for problems that are cross-border in their impact. Therefore, Egypt has been keen on implementing coordinated governance to ensure the participation of all stakeholders in society: international development partners, the private sector and civil society, she said, noting that Egypt’s diverse and cross-sectoral portfolio with several partners amounts to 25 billion dollars.
She noted that Egypt has a pioneering experience in mapping development financing with the 17 UN sustainable development goals, which is the second pillar of the principles of economic diplomacy.
Egypt is strengthening economic diplomacy through 3 key principles; regularly organizing Multi-Stakeholder Platforms to ensure that all projects are streamlined and effectively coordinated; mapping Official Development Assistance to the SDGs (ODA-SDG); and adopting a consistent Global Partnerships Narrative which is People & Projects & Purpose to highlight the success stories that were achieved.
The ODA-SDG mapping is a novel approach that aims to help countries accelerate progress towards the 2030 SDGs.
Mashat stated that “sustainable development is only attained through integrated efforts of international and national stakeholders. As a designated national entity, the Ministry of International Cooperation’s role comes in developing and managing economic cooperation between multilateral and bilateral development partners; pushing forward multilateralism and international cooperation.”
Mashat added that “Most of the SDGs have access to development finance, represented in energy, with funding amounting to $5.9 billion in 34 projects, as well as 36 projects with a value of $5.7 billion across sectors of #industry, #innovation and #infrastructure.”
“This is in addition to $4.9 billion in clean water and sanitation,” Mashat elaborated.
International officials praise Egypt’s commitment to SDGs:
Marina Wes, Regional Director of the World Bank office in Egypt, Yemen, Djibouti, and MENA stated that “In Egypt, there are good examples of joint action represented in the Benban Solar Power plant, which is unique example for development work.”
CEO of International Islamic Trade Finance Cooperation (ITFC) said “We are working closely with the Government of Egypt to make all commercial transfers using modern technology. Egypt has exerted exceptional efforts towards accelerating digital transformation.”
Dr. Naeema Gasseer, Country Director of World Health Organization (WHO), said “Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Egypt has pioneered regionally and internationally and it successfully managed to mitigate the negative repercussions of the pandemic through bringing all stakeholders to the same decision-making table, including the civil society.”
She emphasized that health is “at the heart of the SDGs,” adding that “the Covid-19 pandemic has forced the world to be working better, together, at all levels, “to support and protect health.”
Gasseer noted that the pandemic’s repercussions imposed special circumstances on the world and sent many indispensable messages that most countries of the world responded to
Gasseer also added that one of the most important messages highlighted by the pandemic is that we need to work in a hybrid model, building more inclusive systems.
She further praised Mashat’s efforts in implementing projects that contribute to the achievement of the #SDGs, in order to sustain the economy, and ensure better livelihoods.
President Sisi highlights the importance of attaining sustainable future:
During Egypt-ICF, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said “Egypt was one of the first countries that set a strategic plan on the long run to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals; based on the national priorities, with the aim of attaining comprehensive development and recovery, as well as overcoming the repercussions of climate change. Egypt’s Vision 2030 comes in line with the United Nations’ SDGs 2030 and Africa’s 2063 Agenda; pushing forward sustainable development and multilateral cooperation.”
He added that Egypt has pledged to proceed with the march of development, while confronting accumulating problems and challenges.
He said Egypt managed over the past years to push forward development efforts in various sectors, including infrastructure projects, social protection programs, boosting human capital investments, and taking tangible steps towards green recovery in order to improve people’s livelihoods and meet their aspirations.
He said Egypt welcomes furthering cooperation with international financial institutions and the United Nations and its affiliated agencies to enhance development efforts.
United Nations Resident Coordinator in Egypt Elena Panova said “I am very pleased that the crucial direction was determined by Abdel Fattah El Sisi, the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, to promote and encourage efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”
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