The co-operation portfolio between Egypt and Japan was the core of a meeting held in Cairo Sunday between Minister of International Co-operation, Rania el-Mashat, the Japanese Ambassador in Cairo, Masaki Noke, discussed.
During the meeting, el-Mashat followed up progress of work in several projects financed by the Japanese government to support Egypt’s development plans, a ministry statement said.
El-Mashat and Higher Education Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffarhave recently signed letters of exchange and a grant agreement with the Japanese Embassy and the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) on increasing a Japanese grant to $19 million for establishing an outpatient clinics building affiliated to Abu El Reesh Children’s hospital.
Co-operation portfolio between Egypt and Japan started in 1954 covering many sectors.
The current portfolio of bilateral economic co-operation amounts to roughly $2.8 billion for the implementation of 14 projects in various sectors.
Since the eruption of the coronavirus pandemic, Japan backed the health ministry with a 28-million-dollar grant, the minister said.
The minister hailed the deep-rooted ties between the two countries, that date back to the 1950s. Sunday’s talks also addressed future partnership projects expected to be agreed upon this year.
Japan seeks to develop the transport sector in Egypt, including the completion of the first phase of the fourth line of the Cairo metro, Noke said.
The Japanese envoy added that his country was looking forward to contributing to the implementation of the comprehensive health insurance projectEgypthas launched to develop the health care system for citizens.
Egypt is intended to benefit from the experiences of successful countries in this field, such as Japan, Mashat said.
The meeting also dealt with the Japanese support for the state’s plan to combat the coronavirus pandemic, with a value of 9 million dollars, as well as an agreement worth 236 million dollars to upgrade energy sector across the country.