Cairo: Egypt has entered into a pound 53.8 million concessional financing and grant agreement with the French Development Agency (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB) under the Green Sustainable Industries (GSI) Programme. This initiative is aimed at facilitating the country's transition towards sustainable industrial practices.

According to State Information Service Egypt, the agreement was unveiled at a high-level event attended by representatives from the private sector and industry. The deal also encompasses an pound 8.8 million consultancy component funded by the EU and managed by the EIB. The programme is designed to promote industrial investments that reduce pollution, lower emissions, and enhance energy and resource efficiency in Egypt. This is expected to improve the environmental quality and increase the competitiveness of Egyptian products on the global stage.

The pound 53.8 million financing is part of a larger pound 271 million package, which includes pound 30 million in EU grants, pound 135 million from the EIB, and pound 45 million from the AFD. The focus will be on sectors with high energy and resource consumption, such as iron and steel, cement, chemicals, food industries, and waste management.

Minister of Local Development and Acting Minister of Environment Manal Awad highlighted that the programme aims to boost Egypt's export capacity by ensuring compliance with international environmental standards. It also seeks to reduce production costs, localize clean technologies, foster green industrial innovation, improve productivity, and create new job opportunities.