CAIRO, 28 April 2021 - LI Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Mostafa Madbouly, Prime Minister of the Arab Republic of Egypt, today signed the five year, EUR172 million Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) to advance Egypt’s inclusive and sustainable industrialization. Building on UNIDO’s long-standing technical cooperation activities, the PCP will support Egypt’s transformation in line with the country’s national policies and development strategies as well as the UN Partnership Development Framework for Egypt and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“By combining UNIDO’s advisory and normative services, its technical assistance and its convening function, the PCP will support the efforts of the Government of Egypt in achieving its industrial development goals set forth in the Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030, the Roadmap for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development 2020-2024, and the MSMEs and Entrepreneurship National Strategy 2020-2025”, said UNIDO Director General Li. “Strong government leadership and a multi-stakeholder partnership are distinctive PCP features, which will integrate and mainstream development to spur industrial growth”.

Since December 2018, when Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and UNIDO Director General LI Yong agreed on the principles of a PCP, the Government of Egypt and UNIDO worked closely to design and develop an integrated service package to leverage additional investment in sectors with high growth potential and the capacity to generate quality jobs.

“The Egyptian government emphasizes the participatory efforts to make the most of the PCP as a national platform for integrating all industrial development projects, programmes and initiatives in cooperation with all development partners”, said Prime Minister Madbouly. “We look forward to the successful implementation of the programme in Egypt as an effective approach to solve structural issues that hinder the sector in its path to comprehensive and sustainable development”. Prime Minister Madbouly added: “We also aim at improving the sector's diversification and innovation capacity and enhance the competitiveness of our products in regional and global markets”.

During the 2019 PCP programming phase, which was initiated with the support of the Government of China, UNIDO and key national ministries conducted a country diagnostic, including several consultations with the UN country team, international financial institutions, the donor community, other development partners, and the private sector. The diagnostic showed that manufacturing in Egypt registered some notable achievements in the last decade: in terms of economic contribution, the share of manufacturing has been increasing in three main dimensions, employment, exports and FDI inflows, while in terms of trade competitiveness, Egypt has improved in agriculture, textiles, chemicals and plastics, as evidenced by an increase in the number of revealed comparative advantages (RCAs). However, the country has not yet achieved its full potential to upgrade its manufacturing sector (the share of MVA in total GDP is about 15%) as well as to promote renewable energy sources, the valorization of waste and to enhance its preparedness to reap the benefits of the fourth industrial revolution.

Accordingly, the PCP will focus on industrial policy and governance, investment promotion, green industry, smart cities and sustainable industrial parks, value chains, and mainstreaming Industry 4.0 in priority industrial sectors, including chemicals, electronics, food, textiles, leather, furniture, and handicrafts.

Today’s ceremony was also attended by Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea, Permanent Representative of Egypt to UNIDO Mohamed Hamdy El-Molla, Abir Al Saady Advisor to the Minister of Trade and Industry, UN Resident Coordinator in Egypt, Managing Director of the Directorate of Programme, Partnerships and Field Coordination Ciyong Zou, Director and Representative of UNIDO Regional Hub Office in Cairo Bassel El Khatib, Chief Arab Regional Coordination Division Hanan Hanzaz, Ahmed Rezk UNIDO Deputy Representative and numerous Ambassadors, representatives of UN agencies, international financial institutions, and the donor community.

For more information, please contact:

Bassel Alkhatib

Director and Representative of the UNIDO Regional Hub in Egypt

Email

Read news in Arabic here.

The full Programme for Country Partnership (PCP) Egypt is available here.