Today, Saturday, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, the Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation, met with Michel Quaroni, the Italian Ambassador to Egypt, to discuss the efforts being made to further development cooperation, particularly at the level of debt swaps for development.
The Minister of International Cooperation stressed that, in light of the challenges the world faces and its endeavors to expand the financing of the climate and the crises facing developing countries, the mechanism of debt swap for development has become witnessing a great international momentum, pointing out that Egypt had the lead in implementing this program with Italy It has been the outcome of numerous productive development efforts since 2001.
She noted that the debt swap mechanism strengthens efforts to reduce external debt and simultaneously stimulates development efforts, noting that the ministry has sent a paper to development partners introducing the debt swap mechanism that was implemented with the Italian side and outlining the programmes that have been carried out within its framework since 2001, with the possibility of discussing the program’s new stage and allocating funds to climate change initiatives.
The Minister of International Cooperation was eager to review the pillars of the national platform for green projects, the “Nawvi” programme, which was launched under the auspices of the National Climate Change Strategy 2050 and includes 9 priority projects in the fields of water, food, and energy as part of the projects that the state intends to implement within the framework of the strategy. The Minister invited the Italian side to learn more about the specifics of the projects with the aim of fostering closer cooperation between the two countries.
The Italian ambassador expressed his country’s desire to increase cooperation with Egypt in a number of development-related areas as well as interest in taking part in the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt’s initiative to cultivate one million acres, which aims to achieve agricultural contentment and food security in light of the erosion of green spaces and agricultural lands caused by bulldozing and construction work.
With the aim of reducing the burden of external debt and achieving sustainable development through the financing of priority projects, the debt swap mechanism is a way to increase the financing available for development projects by entering into agreements that specify what portion of the debts owed to the countries are made of development partners. The first phase of the Egyptian debt exchange programme was signed in Italian in 2001 and reached 149.
09 million dollars, and the local interview for the entire amount was used to finance 54 projects in the governorates of Egypt in many sectors, and the second agreement was signed in 2007 and reached 100 million dollars and through this agreement was funded 32 projects in different development sectors The program’s third deal, worth $100 million, was inked in 2012.
Italy and Egypt debate the program’s latest phase of debt exchange.
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