Dr. Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development and Governor of Egypt at the Islamic Development Bank Group, met Eng. Hani Sonbol, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation and Acting CEO of the International Islamic Corporation for the Private Sector.
The meeting witnessed a discussion of the position of cooperation issues between Egypt and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the bank group, which are held during the period from 10-13 May in Jeddah, under the slogan: “Establishing partnerships to prevent crises.”
Dr. Hala Al-Saeed reviewed the most prominent successes achieved in the existing areas of cooperation between Egypt and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, and the status of existing and new operations for the benefit of Egyptian institutions.
She indicated that the updated framework agreement (signed in 2018) entered into force after its renewal for a period of five years in June 2022, at a value of $6 billion, pointing to the successful conclusion of the first phase of the Women in International Trade project in Egypt, funded within the framework of the second phase of the Mubadara program. Aid for Trade for Arab Countries (Aftias 2), which is managed by the Foundation, in October 2022, and preparations are underway to launch the second phase of the project.
And Al-Said praised the availability of financing operations to the concerned Egyptian authorities, according to the signing of the Foundation’s annual work program with Egypt for the year 2023, to provide financing solutions in the amount of $ 1.5 billion, through the signing of this program with both the General Authority for Supply Commodities and the General Petroleum Corporation, in a way that supports the state’s efforts to provide Basic food commodities and petroleum products for citizens. Thus, the total financing portfolio amounted to approximately $17 billion.
It welcomed the signing of the partnership agreement for the Egyptian Academy for International Trade project between the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, the Trade Training Center of the Ministry of Trade and Industry, and the Egyptian Exporters Association during the annual meetings of the Bank Group this year, within the framework of the second phase of the Assistance for Trade initiative program. For the Arab countries (Aftias 2).
She referred to the consideration of launching a second phase of a program to rehabilitate and train 50 women for export in the fields of handicrafts and heritage with the Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises Development Agency in light of the ongoing evaluation of the outputs of the first phase. To ensure the achievement of tangible results in terms of the contribution of women-owned enterprises participating in the program to Egyptian exports and international exhibitions, which enriches the added value of the project, as the first phase of the program was signed between the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation and the Enterprise Development Agency in October 2022 in Cairo on the sidelines of the events. The conclusion of the first phase of the Women in International Trade Program in Egypt. A number (2) training programs have been held by the Foreign Trade Training Center, with a total number of (53) trainees from 14 governorates, and the second group has been implemented and trained for (33) trainees.
It praised the outputs of the activities implemented within the framework of the third annual program for the benefit of the Arab Republic of Egypt, which was signed between the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation, the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit, and the African Bank for Import and Export (Afreximbank) during the annual meetings of the Islamic Development Bank Group. in Sharm El-Sheikh in June 2022; With the aim of increasing economic integration and supporting sustainable growth in all Arab and African countries by encouraging trade and investment.
She pointed out that within the framework of the program, a trade mission of Egyptian companies was already dispatched to Tunisia last December to attend B2B bilateral meetings between exporters and importers from Africa in the pharmaceutical and medical supplies sector, on the sidelines of the fourth meeting of the Board of Governors of the Arab-African Trade Bridges Programme. A trade mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo during last March in the field of engineering industries, as the Congo is one of the top 10 African markets importing engineering industries.
Al-Said explained that coordination is currently underway to send a delegation of Egyptian companies to participate in the meeting between exporters and importers of food industries in Morocco during May 2023, and a trade mission to the State of Iraq is scheduled to be organized, in cooperation with the Egyptian Commercial Representation Authority, in June 2023: with the aim of meeting A number of businessmen in Iraq and visiting business gatherings in the field of engineering industries, and it is intended to organize missions to Algeria during the coming period, in the field of printing and packaging, in addition to preparing to contribute to organizing Egypt’s annual energy exhibition for the electrical and energy industries sector.
Al-Said highlighted the existing areas of cooperation between Egypt and the International Islamic Corporation for the Private Sector, looking forward to strengthening the means of cooperation between the Corporation and the Sovereign Fund of Egypt, the investment arm of the state, in line with the axes of the National Program for Structural Reforms, the State Ownership Document, and other national plans and strategies that target Encouraging the Egyptian private sector, within the framework of developing an integrated strategy that clarifies mechanisms to support the activities of the Egyptian private sector through its various financing services, so that this strategy represents a roadmap for cooperation between the two sides in this field.
