Cairo, Egypt – 06 July 2024 - The United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary-General and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Arab States, Abdallah Al Dardari, has concluded a successful five-day visit to Egypt, reaffirming UNDP’s support to the country’s new development priorities.   

Throughout his visit, Al Dardari engaged with a wide range of stakeholders, highlighting UNDP’s commitment to sustainable and inclusive economic growth, green economy transition, economic diversification, innovative financing, digitalization, resilience, social protection, poverty alleviation, and public-private partnerships.  

“Over the past week, I have witnessed the resilience and ambitions of the Egyptian people. I want to reiterate UNDP’s readiness to support the country as it transitions to a new development phase. With a focus on sustainable economic growth, debt and risk management, and resilience, we can together boost private sector engagement, build capacities, and strengthen institutions to manage the economic and social national priorities,” emphasized Al Dardari.

Al Dardari met with key government officials, including Minister of Communications and Information and Technology, Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation, Dr. Rania Al Mashat, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Dr. Hani Sewilam, formerMinister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Sameh Shoukry, former Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohamed Maait, and former Minister of Social Solidarity, Dr. Nevine El-Kabbag.  

Discussions focused on financial inclusion, economic growth initiatives, MSME support, innovative financing, fiscal sustainability, Tax4SDGs, digitalization, social programmes, poverty alleviation, resilience, climate action, and UNDP’s crisis response in neighboring countries.

In a meeting with the Head of the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency, BasselRahmy, Al Dardari discussed initiatives promoting MSMEs and green growth. He also oversaw the signing of the UNDP Egypt -MSMEDA joint project extension, aimed at supporting and empowering MSMEs and entrepreneurship. 

Al Dardari also attended the EU-Egypt Investment Conference with discussions on the importance of renewable energy, investments, economic growth, and strengthening the EU-Egypt partnership to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Egypt. 

During the Aswan Forum in Cairo on 2-3 July, Al Dardari participated in a panel discussion on “The Peace-Development Nexus in Africa: Scaling up Partnerships and Advancing Integrated Solutions,” where he stressed the interconnected nature of human development and peace, and the need for interdisciplinary solutions and proactive engagement by development actors to prevent and mitigate crises.

 Additionally, Al Dardari witnessed the signing of a new project with the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, funded by Japan. This collaboration aims to help address emerging peace and security challenges in Africa. He also received recognition for UNDP Egypt’s 15 years of support to CCCPA during the observance of CCCPA 30^th anniversary.  

 Mr. Al Dardari’s mission underscored UNDP’s ongoing and prospective collaborative efforts to support Egypt in achieving sustainable development and addressing its socio-economic challenges. 

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 For media inquiries, please contact: 

Fatma Elzahraa Yassin | Communication Lead | UNDP | fatma.yassin@undp.org  

 About UNDP 

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