Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait echoed the Egyptian President’s voice by calling for support to the private sector to mobilize capital
Egypt hosted the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) Annual Meetings on September 25 to 26, 2023. This is the first time the annual meetings take place in Africa, with participation from 106 countries. It also marks AIIB's first in-person Annual Meeting since 2019. This year’s theme was Sustainable Growth in a Challenging World.
“Egyptian infrastructure has long occupied a special place in the world’s imagination. From the truly timeless marvel of the Pyramids of Giza to the Suez Canal through which 12% of global trade flows, Egypt has long been a home for grand visions and dreams of a new tomorrow. Indeed, the New Suez Canal project, implemented in record time thanks to the keen attention of President El Sisi, exemplifies the transformative impact of well-planned and executed infrastructure projects," Jin Liquin, AIIB President and Chair of the Board of Directors, said.
The Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, gave remarks during the annual meetings’ first day, where he said that emerging countries are in need of additional low-cost funding amid global economic circumstances caused by the COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. He also stressed on the efforts made by Egypt over the past 8 years to bridge its infrastructure gap that existed across all sectors with the energy and transportation as examples.
AIIB’s Annual Meeting Takeaways
The main takeaways of the conference are low-cost financing for emerging economies, climate financing, private-public sector collaboration, and multilateral cooperation. These were recurring topics of discussions that were carried out during the AIIB annual meeting.
El-Sisi stressed on the emerging economies’ need for low-cost financing in order for them to be able to deal with financial pressures that arise from global economic issues.
Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait echoed the Egyptian President’s voice by calling for support to the private sector to mobilize capital and help the countries that need low-cost financing have investment opportunities.
Maait stressed on the importance of multilateral cooperation and partnerships as a necessary solution, stimulating the private sector with financing facilities, infrastructure investment as the cornerstone of sustainable economic development and strengthening the ability of emerging economies to meet the financing development goals needs.
Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat reflected on the necessity of providing innovative financing models and tools that mobilize private capital to implement these projects and enhance nature-based solutions. Al-Mashat pointed out that financing climate change adaptation solutions and nature-based solutions in the field of infrastructure has become necessary.
AIIB’s portfolio in Egypt
The AIIB contributed to financing a number of projects that come in light of the country’s strategic priority for the public and private sectors, an investment portfolio of almost $1.3 billion, across various infrastructure sectors in Egypt, in order to promote sustainable and comprehensive economic development.
AIIB played a significant role in mobilizing the private sector through Benban Park making it one of the largest solar energy parks, and in upgrading the Damietta Port Containers by bringing together both the public and private sector, according to Maait’s statements made during a seminar on connectivity.
Finance minister also said that Egypt will be receiving $1 billion in financing from the AIIB to support the private sector, some of the will be allocated to the construction of an Alexandria metro line and credit lines to a number of banks including Banque Misr.
During the AIIB meeting, Egypt and Croatia also inked a double taxation agreement, reflecting the commitment of both countries to boost economic, trade, and investment relations while protecting tax rights.
The Board of Governors of the AIIB announced that its ninth Annual Meeting will be held in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in September 2024.
