Her comments came during a virtual panel organized by Siemens Middle East, titled “Technology with Purpose for the Middle East”
Minister of International of Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat continues to highlight the important role of the private sector engagement to boost technological innovation in Egypt.
“2021 is the year of private-sector engagement. We are keen to bring the innovative and technologically advanced expertise of the private entities into the public sector and the development agenda in hopes to push toward the national and global sustainability targets,” Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat said Monday.
With the world constantly changing, reform has to be continuous stressed Al-Mashat, who added that “We cannot be complacent; we have to be agile, adapting and adopting new policies and structures in order to keep pushing our economies forward”.
Her comments came during a virtual panel organized by Siemens Middle East, titled “Technology with Purpose for the Middle East”.
According to a Ministry of International of Cooperation statement, global economies are shifting towards digital. Technology is becoming the driving force for infrastructure, education, transportation, entrepreneurship, and industry.
The private sector is a leading force in powering both Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and in pushing forward in the technological wave, it added.
In Egypt, the government is set on a digital transformation encompassing all sectors, as the country heads towards a paperless government with a clean energy transformation.
The panel was moderated by the Co-head of Communications for Siemens in the Middle East, Mohammed Sergie, the event included the Minister of State for International Cooperation UAE & Managing Director of Expo 2020 Dubai, Reem Al Hashimy; President and CEO of Siemens AG, Dr. Roland Busch; and Deema Albasseet, the Strategic Performance Director at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Saudi Arabia; alongside Al-Mashat.
Egypt is set on building new sustainable cities, such as the New Administrative Capital (NAC) that is set to become the country’s first smart city.
The NAC will include a city-wide digital security system as well as a smart infrastructure to reduce consumption and cost with a focus on renewable energy using IoT.
A key part of building new cities is ensuring strong transportation systems. One of Egypt’s mega transportation projects includes an electric high-speed rail network project that is being constructed in partnership with Siemens AG to establish an integrated electric monorail system with a total length of about 1,000 kilometers, connecting Ain Sokhna city with the New Alamein City, and the New Administrative Capital.
Egypt’s flagship project, the Benban Solar Power complex, is a live example of the necessity of private sector involvement in development projects.
The solar project employs over 4,000 people, and limits 2 million tons of harmful gas emissions. So large that it is visible from space, the solar park is also the biggest signal yet of Egypt’s commitment to clean, sustainable energy, and a testament to the power of partnership between the public and private sectors as 32 companies from 12 countries participated in its implementation.
Al-Mashat explained that since the development financing is “purpose-driven” and mapped according to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), engaging with the private sector is key to accelerate their embracement of environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
“Through being agile and forward looking, one will be able to not only address problems of today but also, aspirations for tomorrow,” said Al-Mashat.
In 2020, the Ministry of International Cooperation secured more than a billion dollar for the digitization wave in Egypt, and a development financing worth $3.19 billion was allocated to the support of the private sector and the Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises.
