1. The World Bank is committed to supporting development in Egypt. Our work in more than 100 countries is challenging, but our mission is simple — to help reduce poverty. Over the past 20 years, our focus has changed and so has our approach. We are now dealing with newer issues like gender, community-driven development and the rights and role of indigenous people in development. Our support for social services like health, nutrition, education and pensions has grown from 5 percent in 1980 to 22 percent in 2003. Today, countries themselves are coming to us with their own plans for helping poor people, and we have adopted new of working with them. In Egypt, our commitment to making a difference is visible through an expanding portfolio currently accommodating 15 projects in the agriculture, infrastructure, social protection, health, and environment sectors. In addition, the Bank provides through its economic and sector work, technical and policy advice based on the government request. 2. The World Bank is focusing on creating an environment for sustainable Economic Growth The World Bank is helping Egypt build institutions and capacity to improve the investment climate, increase job opportunities and promote the flow of Foreign Direct Investment. World Bank assistance is being sought in the development of a sound banking sector and eliminating corruption. Mechanisms to manage public debt and tools to make the budget more transparent are being introduced. These reforms will further stabilize the Egyptian economy and facilitate its integration regionally and globally in a sustainable manner. 3. The World Bank is supporting the poor in Upper Egypt The Sohag Rural Development Project is an integrated rural development project in one of the poorest provinces of Egypt. It aims to provide basic infrastructure services to rural communities and to build capacity of local stakeholders to better plan, deliver, and monitor the provision of these services. Over 420 small projects have been built including schools, water supply networks, sanitation systems, roads, post offices, veterinary clinics; 51 local administrations units that serve large and small villages have benefited from the project. 4. The World Bank is supporting the education reform agenda Education is central to development. We have committed around US$33 billion in loans and credits for education, and we currently fund 157 projects in 83 countries across the world. In Egypt, we adopt a ‘cluster’ approach that covers education from early childhood to tertiary education reform. We work in close coordination with other donors, and counterparts at the Ministry of Education, governorates, civil society organizations, parents and communities to addressing quality and gender gaps. A good example of our lending in this area is the Education Enhancement Program and the Early Childhood Education Program, which are promoting the reform of the quality of education at school level, community involvement in managing and reforming schools and supporting the government’s decentralization efforts across the sector.
5. The Airport Development Project is the largest World Bank Project in the Middle East and North Africa Region With a loan of US$335 million, the World Bank is assisting Egypt in enhancing the efficiency of airport management and doubling the capacity of passenger terminals at Cairo and Sharm El Sheikh International Airports by financing new passenger terminals. In addition, the project aims at improving airport service quality in line with international standards and promoting private sector participation in airport management and service delivery in a competitive market. The project is critically important for Egypt in providing experience in designing and financing large and complex infrastructure projects. The Government was keen to involve the World Bank in the project to ensure best practice experience on technical, financial, environmental and safeguards issues. The Bank will further support government plans in infrastructure development of ports and the transport sector. 6. The Bank provides assistance to Industrial Pollution Abatement: The Bank is supporting the GoE effort in addressing industrial pollution in environmental hot spots with focus on Greater Cairo and Alexandria areas. In this context, the Bank has led a group of financiers and donors for funding and implementing a US$ 180 million operation so called Second Pollution Abatement Project (SPAP). This project is based on key innovative features including (i) a market based approach promoting the "Polluter pay" principle; (ii) involvement of local banking sector leading to the establishment of a pollution abatement credit line; and (iii) first introduction of a benchmarking system for monitoring and promoting environmental performance in Industrial sector. Carbon Finance: With the support of the Bank, Egypt is among the first countries in MENA region to have hosted Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Projects. As a result, Egypt has been able to access the international carbon market and subsequently mobilize additional financial resources to support its sustainable development agenda. The first Egyptian carbon finance operation supported by the Bank-managed Carbon Funds was the Alexandria LFG recovery project and which has been recently nominated in the category "Best Carbon Finance Initiative" in the 2007 Africa Investor Awards and it is now recognized a good showcase Bank-wide. In addition to its global benefits this operation is explicitly strongly contributing to local development. 6% of carbon revenues generated by this project have been transferred to Egyptian Environment Protection Funds to support environmental and social development activities. Also, the project developer of this project (ONYX) has committed an additional 19% of the related carbon revenues to support sustainable development activities in Alexandria Governorate. 7. IFC extends support to private sector companies in Egypt In Egypt, IFC increased its support to Egyptian companies, committing in FY07 alone $310 million to 11 companies, a quantum increase over previous years. IFC's investments and advisory services activities in Egypt help improve the business environment, broaden and deepen access to finance for small and medium enterprises, encourage private sector participation in energy, manufacturing and stimulate the housing sector. 8. The World Bank is supporting the development of the Agricultural sector The World Bank is supporting Egypt’s efforts to enhance efficiency of the agricultural sector. World Bank assistance has increased the productivity of 26,000 families who have been settled on about 130,000 feddans of saline to be reclaimed. Irrigation improvement is another way where the Bank has demonstrated an increase in agricultural production and farmers’ income through developing infrastructure, improving on farm irrigation management as well as enhancing the participation of farmers and their capacity. 9. The World Bank works with many partners in Egypt We do not work exclusively with governments. Our work with non-governmental organizations, members of academia, parliamentarians and private sector represents an important feature of our operations. In Egypt, civil society contributes significantly to the identification of priorities for bank support. Through consultations processes, participation and community driven development projects, the Bank engages in active dialogue with and promotes initiative among various stakeholder groups to enhance the quality of its work and acquire a sharper focus on its mission to alleviate poverty. Direct assistance to civil society in Egypt is extended through the Small Grants Program, the Development Marketplace and the MNA Parliamentary Network. 10. The World Bank relies on Local Expertise Globally, the World Bank team is around 10,000 members featuring a wealth of cultural and experience diversity and expressing a culture of high connectivity within the institution. In Egypt, within the country office and across its portfolio of projects, the Bank invests in enhancing its knowledge and understanding of development through the employment of Egyptian staff and experts. The blend of national and international insights is what makes the Bank unique in delivering its services to its member countries and people across the world. |
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