This includes a development financing agreement worth $236 million, signed last February, to enhance development policies within the energy sector
Egypt and Japan’s joint relations’ international cooperation and development financing portfolio has reached $3 billion, split into 14 projects across various sectors; namely electricity, transport, navigation, education, higher education, and irrigation.
Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat, praised the relationship between the 2 countries, highlighting that the pandemic has not hindered cooperation with Japan, as many important agreements were concluded to finance numerous sectors.
This includes a development financing agreement worth $236 million, signed last February, to enhance development policies within the energy sector.
Japan has been supporting Egypt’s health sector since the start of the pandemic with development financing worth $28 million, including a $9 million grant to combat the pandemic and purchase medical equipment.
Earlier today, the minister, alongside Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, signed an agreement with the Japanese Embassy and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) regarding the increase of the JICA grant to $19 million to construct the new outpatient building of the Abu Al-Rish Japanese Hospital.
Minister Al Mashat expressed the importance of Abu Al-Rish Japanese Hospital as a huge edifice for treating children, serving more than 25,000 patients per month.
The grant increase will contribute to reducing overcrowding and long waiting lists states Abdel Ghaffar, adding that this collaboration testifies to the Egyptian government's keenness to improve health services, benefit from the Japanese expertise, and develop the mechanism used in constructing the clinics to maintain the safety of neighboring buildings.
In attendance for the signing was Ambassador Masaki Noke, Ambassador of Japan to Egypt, and Mr. Yoshifumi Omura, Chief Representative of JICA Egypt Office, within the framework of the distinguished Egyptian-Japanese relations to promote the development of the health sector.
Beginning in 1954, the Egypt-Japan cooperation portfolio covers various sectors, with the cooperation between Egypt and Japan to construct Abu Al-Rish Japanese Hospital starting in 1979.
Currently, JICA is providing a development financing to establish a seven-story building behind the main hospital building to improve the hospital's efficiency and capacity so as to provide better healthcare for children.
