Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Rania al-Mashat met with the President of the Africa, Middle East & Central Asia (AMECA) region at Alstom Andrew Deleone to discuss the company’s plans for the electrification of Egypt’s railways and supplying them with hydrogen as a source of alternative fuel.
Mashat held a meeting with Deleone in Cairo on Saturday to explore cooperation opportunities and mainstream climate change considerations in transport infrastructure.
Other topics such as localizing industry were also explored, through through unlocking future cooperation opportunities with the Arab Organization for Industrialization and the SEMAF factory to manufacture mobile units for the sixth metro line in Egypt.
Mashat noted the importance of the transport sector, which comes among the national priorities in developing infrastructure, being amongst the sectors receiving the most funding from multilateral and bilateral development partners.
The development of the transport sector is reflected in the increased participation of the private sector in development efforts.
The minister added that the transport sector benefits greatly from official development aid and represents 25 percent of the total funds provided to the government of Egypt.
Mashat noted that Egypt is integrating and mainstreaming its National Climate Change Strategy with the 2030 national agenda in order to reduce carbon emissions and create green job opportunities for the population.
Deleone said that there is a promising market opportunity in Africa and the Middle East, and that the Government of Egypt has a clear strategic vision that stipulates the relevant policies that are required to meet national priorities, which facilitates the work of development partners to provide financing for targeted sectors.
By the end of July, the financial proposal for the Sixth Metro Line project will be submitted, and which will be presented at the United Nations Climate Conference COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh this year.
