Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Hala El-Said, met with Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) and Acting CEO of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), to review and strengthen cooperation between Egypt and the two organisations. ITFC is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group. El-Said, who is also Egypt's Governor at IsDB commended the ITFC's efforts under the $1.5bn annual work programme for 2024, signed last February with the Egyptian General Authority for Supply Commodities and the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation. The meeting also highlighted the launch of the second phase of the She Trades 2 project in Egypt, with a budget of $350,000 from the Aftias 2 program and $150,000 from the Islamic Development Bank. The project aims to empower women in trade and entrepreneurship. Sonbol affirmed the commitment of both the ITFC and ICD to continue supporting Egypt in key sectors such as energy, food commodities, and small and medium enterprises, as well as empowering women in trade through the Aftias and Arab Africa Trade Bridges programs. El-Said expressed her appreciation for the invitation to participate in the 2024 IsDB Group – ITFC Board of Governors meeting in Tunisia, where Egypt will hand over the chairmanship to Tunisia. Progress was made on the fourth annual programme for Egypt under the Arab Africa Trade Bridges Program, with a memorandum of understanding expected to be signed between the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the ITFC. The minister also acknowledged the success of the Jossor Program's third annual programme, which facilitated trade missions for Egyptian companies to participate in exporter and importer meetings in Tunisia, Morocco, Congo, and Algeria during 2022 and 2023. Collaboration on training programmes was highlighted, including the ongoing qualification and training of 50 women for export in the handicrafts and heritage sectors. The successful Step Towards Export (STEP) training programme, implemented in cooperation with the ITFC, the Foreign Trade Training Center, and the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency, also saw its first batch of 200 trainees graduate. El-Said reaffirmed the commitment of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development to coordinate with relevant agencies to implement the second phase of the STEP training programme. Cooperation between the Trade Development Fund and the Misr El Kheir Foundation within the Bab Rizk project was praised, with the establishment of a furniture production unit in Beni Suef Governorate contributing to economic activity in the surrounding area. El-Said expressed her desire to strengthen cooperation between the ICD and The Sovereign Fund of Egypt (TSFE), aligning with the National Program for Structural Reforms, the State Ownership Policy Document, and other national strategies to encourage the Egyptian private sector.
