CAIRO – Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation Rania el Mashat said the first public governance review aims to strengthen institutional and human capacities and simplify administrative procedures and promote transparency to support economic growth.
Mashat made the remarks during her participation in the meetings of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Public Governance Committee, which were attended by several member countries and a number of international organizations, according to a statement released by the Planning Ministry.
She emphasized the public governance review is the first of its kind in Egypt, as it conducted a comprehensive assessment of priority public governance reforms.
The review provided in-depth insights into key drivers and recommendations appropriate to the Egyptian context, to ensure effective implementation of these reforms and address current challenges, Mashat added.
“This comes through supporting the development of a policy framework to follow up and implement the Sustainable Development Agenda (Egypt Vision 2030),” the minister noted.
The review also seeks to strengthen institutional and human capacities, simplify administrative procedures, and enhance transparency and participation through improving public communication and access to information, with a focus on integrating a gender and youth perspective, to support economic development efforts, she said.
Mashat stated that the public governance review also contributes to supporting the Egyptian government by leveraging best practices in member and partner countries in line with the organization’s standards.
She highlighted the key recommendations for more effective implementation of “Egypt Vision 2030,” which include coordinating efforts to align and integrate “Egypt Vision 2030” with the overall framework for comprehensive development.
It also includes strengthening institutional planning and coordination to ensure the implementation of “Egypt Vision 2030,” conducting functional assessments to identify and document relevant focal points for sustainable development and strategic planning at the level of ministries, the minister said.
“Additionally, horizontal coordination at the government level is enhanced through the establishment of a governance framework that guides the national planning process led by the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, and International Cooperation, in collaboration with the Presidency of the Council of Ministers through ministerial or regulatory decisions,” she added.
Mashat explained that the “Guide for Preparing the Annual Economic and Social Development Plan” was launched as a first step towards implementing the recommendations of the Public Governance Review in Egypt, as these recommendations emphasized the importance of ensuring the alignment of long, medium and short-term programs with the updated Egypt Vision 2030, in addition to strengthening the capacities of sustainable development units and strategic departments in national entities to support strategic planning mechanisms and tools in the country.
She adding the guide comes within the framework of the Egyptian state’s interest in enhancing the policy planning process at all national, regional, and local levels, in accordance with the provisions of the State General Planning Law.
Furthermore, Mashat indicated this guide aims to achieve coherence and coordination among different planning processes and levels, focusing on “Egypt Vision 2030,” which is considered the comprehensive document for national strategic planning.
It also includes the government’s medium-term work program for 2024/25-2026/27 as a framework to achieve the government’s medium-term work program 24/25-26/27 as a framework for achieving the state’s medium-term goals through its main and sub-programs, in addition to the annual general plan for economic and social development, which includes projects that contribute to achieving the state’s priorities in the short term, according to the minister.
She affirmed this guide represents a tool to achieve a gradual shift from focusing on the quality of projects to focusing on the quality of policies, starting with the annual planning process. It provides a set of steps to guide national entities in preparing the annual plan, ensuring consistency between the goals, objectives and targets associated with the various planning documents, in accordance with the principles and procedures approved by the State General Planning Law (18/2022).
This is expected to develop the plan’s format and structure, to better reflect sectoral policies, their objectives and indicators, as well as related projects within the framework of the updated Egypt Vision 2030 and the government’s work program, she concluded.
