The European Union (EU) is to allocate an approximate amount of EUR 110 mn to finance Egyptian projects in various sectors within the upcoming period, coming as part of the EUR 500 mn Single Support Framework (SSF) 2017-2020, Invest-Gate reports.

This came during a meeting held in late July, where the Head of the EU Delegation in Egypt Ivan Surkoš met with a number of Egyptian ministers and top officials, namely Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr, Minister of Electricity Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Local Development Mahmoud Shaarawy, and Chairman of Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish, according to a recent official statement.

Commenting on the move, Nasr noted that the grant will support Egypt’s projects in water and sanitation, civil society, vocational training, administrative reform, intra-trade, heritage, and others, underlining, “We are prioritizing youth empowerment and human-building projects in the forthcoming period, in which implementations are made to meet President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi’s directives. Besides, we brace to hold an international conference in the Suez Canal, in collaboration with the EU, in line with cooperation between both sides.”

On his part, Shaarawy unveiled that the EU will fund four projects in the local development sector, underway in collaboration with the EU. The projects are to qualify and train all workers in the industry, exchange experiences, empower women, improve information technology centers in governorates, develop the local development center in Saqqara, and boost the institutional structures of the Local Development Fund.

Meanwhile, Shaarawy confirmed that the main reason behind cooperating with the EU is to further raise reliance on renewable energy as well as expanding its share in Egypt’s energy total productive capacity. This comes on top of improving production and distribution efficiency, besides establishing energy distribution control centers, according to the statement.

As for the Suez Canal, Mamish highlighted, “The collaboration with the EU focuses on boosting infrastructure projects and preparing an outline for a number of locations in the borders of the Suez Canal Economic Zone. We are already joining forces with the EU to prepare an outline for Technology Valley and to establish vertical industrial complexes for silicon-based enterprises.”