Further cooperation with Switzerland

Egyptian-Swiss economic relations and future areas of cooperation for 2021-2024 were prominent on the agenda of a high-level meeting Thursday.

Minister of International Cooperation Rania el-Mashaat, the Swiss Ambassador to Egypt Paul Garnier and the new head of the Swiss International Cooperation Office Valerie Liechti attended the meeting.

The discussions were part of the Ministry’s endeavours to strengthen and develop economic cooperation relations with countries and organisations in the region and beyond, a ministry statement said yesterday. 

El-Mashat also addressed new fields for cooperation with the Swiss side, suggesting focus on climate action, renewable energy, and women’s empowerment, in addition to engaging the private sector in national development.

The ministry intends on making 2021 the year to enhance the public-private dialogue towards a sustainable, green economy, the minister was quoted as saying.

El-Mashaat said she was looking forward to developing more partnerships with Switzerland to promote the national development agenda and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as support the participation and engagement of the private sector through international partnerships.

For his part, Swiss envoy said he was looking forward to joint coordination over the coming period in the framework of boosting economic ties with Egypt in various fields through the new cooperation program 2021-2024.

Partnership between Egypt and Switzerland spans more than 40 years, during which the Swiss side has contributed more than 700 million Swiss francs to finance more than 200 projects in various sectors. 

In 2017, the joint strategy for cooperation 2017-2020 was launched to support the national development agenda in light of Egypt’s vision 2030. 

The ongoing development bilateral cooperation portfolio amounts to $59 million to finance seven projects in the fields of industry, urban development, water, housing, waste management, communications and health.