Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, and Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, participated in the 8th Annual Meeting of the New Development Bank (NDB), in China.

The Egyptian participation in the annual meetings of the NDB is the first, after the approval of Egypt's accession, along with the BRICS grouping of countries founding the bank, in light of the efforts aimed at promoting development in developing countries and emerging economies.

This comes in light of the role played by the Egyptian government to strengthen development cooperation relations with multilateral and bilateral development partners, and to enhance the national development vision that is consistent with the UN goals for sustainable development 2030.

The two-day annual meeting of the New Development Bank (NDB) is held at its headquarters in Shanghai, China on May 30th and 31st, 2023.

The 8th NDB Annual Meeting is themed ‘Shaping a New Era for Global Development’ is intended to boost infrastructure development projects.

About the New Development Bank (NDB)

The NDB, formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, headquartered in Shanghai, China, had announced Egypt's membership, joining a list of major emerging countries, namely Brazil, India, China, Russia and South Africa.

The bank works to support sustainable development and enhance regional cooperation and integration by investing mainly in the field of infrastructure, which includes various sub-sectors in infrastructure such as energy, transportation, water and communications, in addition to expanding its operations to include the health and social infrastructure sectors and digitization. The NDB aims to invest in the mentioned sectors as an aftermath to the negative economic effects resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, established in 2015 with a capital of $100 billion.

It is worth noting that the BRICS countries, which are the founding members (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), agreed to establish the NDB at the 4th "BRICS" summit in New Delhi in 2012, and it was announced at the fifth summit in Durban in 2013, before it was signed. The convention took place in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza in July 2014.

Since its establishment, the NDB has approved financing in more than 90 projects totaling $32 billion in areas such as transportation, water supply, clean energy, digital and social infrastructure, and civil construction.

30-5-2023

The opening session

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said at the opening ceremony of the meeting that the NDB has successfully completed its first round of membership expansion and its global influence is steadily being elevated, which makes the bank a vital emerging force among multilateral development institutions. 

Ding said: "As the founding member and host country, China is willing to work with other members to promote the stable operation of the New Development Bank and its continuous development." 

Chinese Finance Minister Liu Kun said at the opening ceremony that the bank's establishment would open a new chapter in the participation of developing countries, as represented by the BRICs, in global economic governance.  

NDB President Dilma Rousseff listed several priority tasks for the bank in the immediate future. One among them is to "seek to fund a greater share of our projects in local currencies, with the dual objectives of strengthening the member countries' domestic markets and protecting our borrowers from the risks of currency fluctuations."

Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance and Egypt's Governor at the New Development Bank (NDB) delivered a speech at the opening session, in which he affirmed that Egypt is keen to deepen cooperation paths with international development partners and multilateral banks to provide easy, low-cost and long-term financing to support the process of comprehensive and sustainable development at a time when access to global financial markets has become more difficult and costy.

He emphasized the bank’s significant financing capabilities and advanced international expertise, which can contribute to a portfolio that promotes green growth and supports Egypt's development path in various sectors, and is aligned with Egypt’s Vision 20230.

The minister pointed out that Egypt is seeking to attract more private investments in major development projects, and the NDB can contribute to this, as the Egyptian government is working to deepen the participation of the private sector in economic activities by providing tax and customs facilities that stimulate the business climate, in a way that contributes to stimulating production and meeting the basic needs of citizens, and the mitigation of the unprecedented wave of inflation resulting from geopolitical tensions and the current economic turmoil.

31-5-2023

Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance and Egypt's Governor at the New Development Bank (NDB), chaired the plenary session of the NDB Board of Governors, which took place during the 8th annual meeting of the bank in Shanghai, China.

The session witnessed the participation of Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation, along with heads of state delegations, and governors of member states.

In his speech, Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said Egypt is committed to strengthening cooperation with the New Development Bank and establishing bilateral and multilateral partnerships with BRICS countries.

He emphasized the bank’s significant financing capabilities and advanced international expertise, which can contribute to a portfolio that promotes green growth and supports Egypt's development path in various sectors, and is aligned with Egypt’s Vision 20230.

Maait stressed that Egypt is an important ally to the bank in its activities and aims to establish the bank as a significant partner in multilateral development cooperation.

Maait added that collaborating together will strengthen solidarity among nations in addressing the current global economic challenges, emphasizing the importance of international development partners adopting more suitable programs to enhance the capabilities of emerging economies without imposing excessive financial burdens.

Maait also stressed the role of the private sector as a driving force for emerging economies’ growth, reducing the pressure on their budgets and necessary financing for investments that contribute to comprehensive and sustainable development.

The finance minister highlighted Egypt's commitment to diversifying funding sources in order to meet development needs and alleviate burdens while improving the standard of living and public services.

He said Egypt seeking support and backing from international partners, including the New Development Bank, to complete its development journey and enhance its capabilities for green recovery through stimulating investments in environmentally friendly projects and creating financial space for developing countries to invest in infrastructure.

For her part, Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat said that Egypt is one of the most recent countries to join the New Development Bank (NDB). Egypt has extensive experience in the field of international cooperation and development financing through its relations with multilateral and bilateral development partners. These relationships are founded on increasing efforts in various sectors of development and financing projects that are a priority for the country.

The Minister added that Egypt’s membership in the NDB, along with the other major emerging economies that are members of the BRICS, enhances South-South cooperation. It supports the government’s efforts to transfer expertise and development experiences in the field of international cooperation to the countries of the South, in a way that stimulates global development efforts. This is based on the principles of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC), which are country ownership, focus on results, inclusive partnerships, and transparency and mutual accountability.

The Minister stated that while the bank is working to support sustainable development and enhance regional cooperation and integration by investing mainly in infrastructure, Egypt already has existing experiences and is strengthening its efforts with development partners under the umbrella of the country’s vision to develop sustainable infrastructure through major projects. She referred to the country platform for the nexus of water, food, and energy (NWFE Program) that stimulates climate finance by integrating mitigation and adaptation to climate change across these priority sectors. This comes at a time when the world is facing global threats in food, energy, and food security challenges.

Al-Mashat stated that these experiences, and other pioneering projects with multilateral and bilateral development partners, are a great impetus for building an ambitious development cooperation portfolio with the NDB. This meets the country’s development requirements in various infrastructure sectors, supports south-south cooperation, and creates constructive partnerships at the bilateral and multilateral levels. It also enhances sources of concessional development financing through joint financing with other development partners for various projects.

Moreover, Al-Mashat added that “Over the past period, we have witnessed the annual meetings of the World Bank (WBG), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) review cooperation mechanisms with the Government of Egypt, and the pioneering experiences that were implemented based on state ownership.” She stressed that Egypt is determined to stimulate cooperation with all stakeholders, meet national development efforts, enhance South-South cooperation, and stimulate regional integration to meet the global challenges facing developing countries and emerging economies.

She also talked about Egypt’s efforts to stimulate the participation of the private sector in development through international partnerships and soft development financing, which is already consistent with the NDB’s goals. The Minister noted that innovative financing mechanisms from development partners enhance the participation of the private sector in development and stimulate its participation in climate action projects.

It is worth noting that Egypt’s development cooperation portfolio with multilateral and bilateral development partners includes more than 300 projects worth about $26bn, addressing the 17 SDGs.

Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of International Cooperation and Alternate Governor of Egypt at the New Development Bank (NDB), participated in the discussion session held by President of the NDB Dilma Rousseff, with the participation of the Minister of Finance and Governor of Egypt at the Bank H.E. Dr. Mohamed Maait and the Egyptian delegation, during the activities of the 8th session of the annual meetings of the NDB in Shanghai, China.

Al-Mashat reviewed the framework of international cooperation and development financing for Egypt.

She stressed that Egypt's relations with multilateral and bilateral development partners are based on clear and strong foundations and a careful governance structure to support development efforts and climate action and stimulate the development vision of Egypt 2030.

Al-Mashat added, "In light of the governance of development cooperation efforts, the Ministry of International Cooperation has developed the electronic system for managing concessional development financing information, as a mechanism for linking and unifying data on development financing agreements and projects, which enables the country to follow up on the financial and technical performance of projects funded by multiple development partners, extract periodic reports for decision-makers, and share data with relevant parties."

She stated that Egypt is keen on integrating efforts among all development partners through the principles of Economic Diplomacy, in a way that maximizes the impact of joint development cooperation efforts.

Al-Mashat pointed out that the NDB has a specialty given that it was founded by major emerging economies and aims to support the development and international cooperation, as well as South-South cooperation, which makes it a great opportunity to stimulate development through comprehensive partnerships and bridge the gap in financing, information and development expertise between emerging countries.

She also discussed with the President of the NDB the ongoing efforts to stimulate the private sector through international partnerships, and the resulting soft development financing that exceeded $7 billion over the past three years, in addition to strengthening technical support efforts to stimulate companies' commitment to environmental, social and governance standards.

Al-Mashat noted that the private sector is a main focus in all its strategies with development partners and that the NDB’s approach to financing the private sector provides a great opportunity for cooperation and integration with the efforts made by development partners in Egypt to stimulate the private sector.

The Minister presented a copy of the Ministry's annual report for the year 2022 to the President of the NDB, which was launched under the title "From Pledges to Implementation".

She pointed out that Egypt is keen to document development experiences and implemented partnerships with development partners, in a way that creates integration in efforts and presents the partnerships implemented throughout the year to monitor the impact of these efforts on sustainable development efforts in Egypt.

Meetings on the sidelines of the 8th session of the annual meetings of the NDB in Shanghai, China.

Dr. Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance and Egypt's Governor at the New Development Bank (NDB), met with Dilma Rousseff, President of the New Development Bank, on the sidelines of the bank's annual meetings held in China.

During the meeting, Maait affirmed that Egypt looks forward to deepening cooperation and means of joint work with the bank, and establishing effective partnerships to contribute to achieving development with soft financing, within the framework of the Egyptian policy aimed at expanding the scope of international development cooperation in various development fields, especially the energy, transportation and green transformation sectors.

He pointed out that Egypt's accession to the membership of NDB will open promising horizons for it to establish effective partnerships between it and the member states, especially with regard to infrastructure projects.

He said that the strong relations between Egypt and the bank allow the state to explore more attractive opportunities, within the framework of keenness to diversify funding sources and mobilize the necessary resources to reduce the cost of meeting the development needs of citizens.

He stressed the importance of maximizing the bank's role in supporting emerging economies by reducing pressure on the budgets by pumping more investments in support of infrastructure development and achieving remarkable progress on major issues on the international scene, including climate change.

The Minister of International Cooperation H.E. Dr. Rania A. Al-Mashat met Dr. Zhang Wencai, Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of China, on the sidelines of her participation in the annual meetings of the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS bloc in Shanghai, China. 

The Minister stressed the long-standing relations between Egypt and China. The distinguished Chinese development experience and the Egyptian government's aspiration to implement more development projects and attract more Chinese investments were also applauded, as it is one of the most important sources of investment and technological expertise in the world.

The Minister also referred to the keenness of the Egyptian and Chinese sides to enhance joint cooperation to transfer Egyptian-Chinese relations to new, broader horizons, based on the strength of historical relations between the two countries. The meeting featured discussions on the most important development projects in the development cooperation portfolio in partnership with the Export-Import Bank of China.

During the meeting, the Minister stressed the importance of the NDB’s role - which was established by the BRICS group, including China - to strengthen joint relations between emerging countries, to advance sustainable development efforts and to overcome global challenges.

At the end of the meeting, Dr. Zhang Wencai, Vice President of the Export-Import Bank of China, expressed his country's appreciation for Egypt as a strategic partner of China in the Arab region and in Africa, also highlighting the Bank's aspiration to strengthen and deepen its strategic partnership with Egypt and implement more pioneering development projects in the country.