Planning Minister discusses deepening strategic partnership with World Bank

2026-03-08 - 19:14

Ahmed Rostom, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, met with Abdel Aziz Al Mulla, Executive Director for the Arab countries group at the World Bank, and Hisham Seif, Alternate Executive Director, to discuss ways of deepening cooperation between Egypt and the World Bank Group. The meeting forms part of efforts to support the state’s path towards comprehensive and sustainable development and to implement the goals of Egypt Vision 2030. Rostom highlighted the strategic partnership with the World Bank as a key driver in supporting Egypt’s economic and structural reform agenda. He emphasised the importance of directing concessional development financing and technical expertise to projects with high developmental impact, particularly in employment, sustainable infrastructure, and investment in human capital, to foster inclusive and sustainable economic growth. The discussions also covered the potential implementation of spatial development programmes designed to accelerate employment, focusing on the economic clusters approach. This approach aims to strengthen local value chains and stimulate productive activities across governorates. Rostom noted that such programmes complement the presidential Haya Karima initiative by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, expanding the local production base, and creating sustainable job opportunities in villages and underdeveloped areas. The meeting further addressed the role of the World Bank Group in promoting innovative financing models to stimulate infrastructure projects, improve implementation efficiency, and ease financing pressures on the state budget. Both sides agreed on the importance of continued coordination to accelerate the implementation of joint programmes and projects. They also emphasised leveraging the Bank’s biannual events—Spring Meetings and Annual Meetings—to showcase Egypt’s experiences in adopting effective economic reforms and implementing comprehensive development programmes, with the goal of achieving sustainable developmental impact and enhancing citizens’ quality of life.