CAIRO — Finance Minister Mohamed Ma’eit said Sunday that the government is keen on boosting cooperation with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to cover human development, particularly where the files of health and education are concerned.
The private sector should play a bigger role in economic activities, the minister stressed in a meeting with an EIB delegation today. This is particularly important given Egypt’s ever growing population, Ma’eit told the EIB officials, underlining the need to sustain upward economic growth rates and contribution to improving living conditions of citizens and upgrading services.
The minister touched upon the comprehensive health insurance project, which, he said, helps provide integrated health care for all family members, thus contributing to social protection and alleviating the negative impact of global crises.
Ma’eit also posted the EIB delegation on efforts to improve the infrastructure and create an investment-friendly climate at the local and foreign levels.
More ventures are being implemented in cooperation with the private sector, the minister said, citing desalination, IT and transport projects.
The government, he added, also takes the environmental aspect into consideration as part of efforts to turn to the green economy.
Pursuing green finance, Egypt is looking forward to EIB contribution to help achieve development goals through implementing environment-friendly projects, the minister noted.
The EIB delegation said Egypt is a major partner of the bank, pointing out that the cooperation portfolio between the two sides reached some 7 billion euros.
The EIB is interested in supporting human development in Egypt, the delegates told the minister.
They also expressed willingness to cooperate with the Egyptian government to determine ways by which to reduce the cost of green finance in developing countries.
