A delegation of US congressmen lauded on Monday the performance of the Egyptian economy during the Covid 19 pandemic and its ability to achieve a growth rate despite declining economies worldwide.

During a meeting with International Cooperation Minister Rania el Mashat, the delegation, grouping 12 aides of congressmen representing both the Republican and Democratic parties, underlined the importance of strategic economic cooperation between Egypt and the US.

Since 1978, the partnership portfolio between the two countries reached 30 billion dollars while the portfolio of the USAID in Egypt since 2014 reached 900 million dollars, Mashat said, adding that this assistance is directed at basic education, higher education, health, governance, private sector and small and medium projects domains.

Given its role in managing the country’s 25-billion-dollar development funding portfolio, Mashat said the ministry is applying economic diplomacy principles to buttress economic cooperation with bilateral and multilateral development partners to carry out State’s 2030 vision and sustainable development goals.

She noted that the economic reforms carried out by the Egyptian government helped the country to face the energy shortage crisis and turn into a country exporting energy to neighboring countries.

Reforms in the energy sector helped the country carry out power linkage grids with Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Greece and lay down a sustainable energy strategy to increase renewable energy’s share to reach 42 percent by 2035. Within this respect, the government carries out several energy projects with the private sector, including Benban solar plant project.

The meeting tackled Egypt’s preparations for climate change conference COP27, saying the event is a chance to get into international partnerships to boost the country’s plans towards green economy conversion.

The two sides discussed Egypt’s efforts in the educational domain, social protection, drinking water and sewage and tourism domains.

Mashat briefed the delegation on efforts to empower women economically and socially, referring to the launch of “Closing the Gender Gap Accelerator” by the Ministry of International Cooperation in cooperation with the National Council for Women and World Economic Forum.

Source: State Information Service Egypt