During the past years, the Ministry of International Cooperation has succeeded in strengthening Egypt’s relations with all partners and international financing institutions, and this has emerged in many continuous agreements to support various economic, social and developmental sectors to contribute to advancing sustainable development efforts. But have the Ministry’s priorities and plans changed with its international partners after the outbreak of the new Corona-virus, especially in light of its negative effects that affected all world economies.

In this convention CEBC & ECIC had the honor to host H.E. Dr. Rania Al Mashat; Minister of International Co-operation discussing the topic “Shifting Mindsets through Economic Diplomacy”. 

In the opening remarks Eng. Motaz Raslan; on behalf of CEBC & ECIC; welcomed our dear distinguished members, guests, ambassadors and his dear friend H.E. Dr. Rania Al Mashat. Eng. Raslan said that corona virus infection rates are constantly declining, and the economy is recovering, and this gives a lot of confidence that things will return to normal.

Then he started his speech repeating some of Dr. Rania’s word about the crisis of corona virus where she said that there’s no time for pessimism or optimism in times of any crisis and we must work quickly and listen well to all opinions.

Then he continued saying that statement confirming that the Egyptian government’s successes in overcoming the repercussions of the new Coronavirus on all sectors were the result of an insightful vision that reflected the strong coordination between all ministries. In all honesty, it can be said that the Corona crisis management team has succeeded with distinction in overcoming many of the consequences of the pandemic and reaching where we are now.

Eng. Raslan added that according to the International Monetary Fund, Egypt may be the only Arab country to achieve economic growth in 2020 in light of the repercussions of the spread of the Coronavirus virus and the only country in the Middle East and Africa that has maintained the credit rating unchanged.

He said: Before I conclude my word, there’s a famous saying by the thinker Louis Vernon, “Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first… The lesson afterwards”, added yes the experience of Corona was a harsh milestone for all the countries of the world. I think that now we have learned our lesson and we can overcome all the repercussions in the future.

H.E Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, spoke about the nature of the work of the Ministry of Cooperation on the principle of “economic diplomacy”, as a result of the Egyptian government’s efforts in the course of various reforms, and the ministry’s approach to moving on the path of sustainable development, referring to the difficult experience facing international economies in the light of the Corona pandemic, and the role learned globally and locally.

On the other hand, H.E Al-Mashat explained the extent of the Egyptian state’s concern, led by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, that international loans should not exceed safe borders, revealing the role of the “Debt Committee”, a committee to follow up Egypt’s external debt and the problem of the membership of the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance, Planning, International Cooperation and Investment, which is tasked with studying the financial conditions of grants and loans in light of the parameters of “loans in safe borders”, noting that the crisis has become a consequence of international borrowing, and that it has affected the ability to pay off the ability of many companies and companies to pay, additionally; the individuals with many countries in the distance of Corona seeking loans and assistance from international donor institutions.

H.E Al-Mashat emphasized that the crisis negatively affected not only health in the world but also the international economy, as it cast a shadow on global production chains, which made unemployment indicators increase, noting that Egypt, under these circumstances, is one of the good growth that was able to deal with challenges. It also managed to create a kind of balance, especially with regard to unemployment, noting that the economic reforms that Egypt adopted years before the crisis helped us a lot, noting that the increase in infrastructure spending rates greatly benefited the Egyptian economy.

During the meeting, a question was raised about “green recovery,” and the minister explained that the Egyptian government is taking into account international environmental standards in investment projects that it establishes or participates in, especially with the growing global trend in placing standards of environmental recovery on its priority list, noting that this comes in Light of development funds held by Egypt with its international partners.

Also, Ambassador Raouf Saad, Secretary-General of the Arab-European Summit, asked how the government, represented by the Ministry of International Cooperation, is currently dealing with foreign debt, especially in light of the Corona pandemic.

Moreover, Major General Atef Yaqoub, Chairman of the Energy Committee in the Council and former President of the Consumer Protection Agency, spoke about the paramount importance of external support means in raising the capabilities of the state’s “government apparatus”, referring to the successful twinning experience with the European Union in the past, especially France and Germany in 2018, which resulted in With a strong law for “consumer protection” in Egypt, it is now one of the best international laws in this field.