By Nibal Zgheib

The EBRD’s Vice President for Policy and Partnerships, Mark Bowman, will be visiting Egypt from 1 to 7 March for high-level meetings with government officials and the business community to discuss COP27, the Bank’s new country strategy and the recovery from the pandemic.

During his stay, Mr Bowman will meet Minister of International Cooperation and EBRD Governor for Egypt Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait, Minister of Petroleum Tarek El Molla, Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad and Minister of Planning and Economic Development Hala El Said.

He will visit the Suez Canal Economic Zone and meet its Chairman, Yehia Zaki. While there, he will also meet the Governor of Alexandria, Mohamed Taher El Sherif, the business community and EBRD clients.

The EBRD delegation includes Heike Harmgart, EBRD Managing Director for the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) region, Harry Boyd-Carpenter, Managing Director, Green Economy and Climate Action, Sue Barrett, Director, Infrastructure for SEMED and Turkey, Barbara Rambousek, Director, Gender and Economic Inclusion, and  Director, EBRD Head of Egypt, Khalid Hamza.

Ahead of the visit, Bowman said: “The EBRD is committed to helping Egypt overcome the economic impact of the pandemic and to continuing to deliver reforms that secure a sound, sustainable and inclusive recovery. We are also working with the Egyptian authorities and the private sector to meet their green goals in the run-up to COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh.”

Egypt is a founding member of the EBRD. Since the start of its operations there in 2012, the Bank has invested more than €8.6 billion(US$9.56billion) in 144 projects in the country.