Egypt’s Minister of Environment, Dr. Yasmine Fouad, convened a meeting with representatives from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to discuss the latest developments in ongoing and future collaborations aimed at achieving a green transition in Egypt. The meeting brought together Mr. Patrick Gilabert, UNIDO Regional Representative in Egypt, Dr. Gihan Bayoumi, UNIDO Deputy Regional Representative, Mr. Ayman El-Dahaby, Project Manager, Dr. Ali Abu Sena, Head of the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA), Mr. Yasser Abdullah, Head of the Waste Management Regulatory Authority (WMRA), Dr. Sherine Fekry, Assistant Minister for Environmental Policies, Mr. Mohamed Moatamed, Assistant Minister for Planning, Investment, Institutional Support, and Engineer Samah Saleh, Head of the Sustainable Development Unit.
A key focus of the discussion was the progress of the “Green Hurghada” project, a joint initiative with UNIDO aimed at biodiversity conservation, enhanced waste management, the application of optimal water resource utilization methods, and the promotion of responsible ecotourism that prevents overfishing. Dr. Fouad emphasized the crucial objective of the project, which involves preparing necessary studies, including a strategic environmental impact assessment, natural resource assessment, and detailed studies across its various components.
Dr. Fouad stressed the importance of ensuring coordination with other ongoing projects with similar objectives, notably the “Green Sharm El-Sheikh” project and the anticipated “Egyptian Red Sea Initiative” in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), with a funding of $15 million. To streamline efforts, she directed the formation of a high-level steering committee to harmonize the activities of these three projects.
The Minister also discussed leveraging the coordination between these initiatives to enhance private sector engagement in nature conservation activities. She highlighted the Ministry’s ongoing work on establishing a Nature Fund within a national bank to mitigate investment risks for the private sector in conserving natural resources.
Mr. Patrick Gilabert, UNIDO Regional Representative in Egypt, underscored the significance of the meeting and the long-standing cooperation between the Ministry and UNIDO in implementing numerous projects, expressing commitment to further collaboration in supporting Egypt’s green transition agenda.
Dr. Gihan Bayoumi elaborated on UNIDO’s support for the Green Hurghada project, which includes providing technical assistance for the preparation of component-specific studies and feasibility studies. She welcomed the coordination with other projects targeting the same objectives in the Red Sea region. Furthermore, she expressed UNIDO’s readiness to assist in developing the industrial component of Egypt’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), an area where UNIDO provides support to many countries.
The meeting also addressed the implementation of the “Advanced Green Industry” project, a €20 million UNIDO initiative spanning eight countries, serving as a successor to the SWITCH-Med project implemented in cooperation with the European Union. This project aims to develop neighborhood policies in the field of circular and green economy. It comprises three independent sub-projects, including one focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that works on developing policies to create a conducive environment for the green transition, with a budget of €12 million. Egypt’s allocation for this component is €1.5 million over four years, focusing on implementation and information exchange related to the circular economy and resource efficiency. Priority sectors for the circular economy in Egypt have been identified as electric vehicles and electronics. The project will support existing policies, strategies, and initiatives, including the Green Sustainable Industry (GSI) project, aiming to support 50 SMEs in Egypt with investments of €4 million. A target of 20% of these projects achieving access to bank financing has been set, along with fostering an ecosystem for the recycling industry within the value chain by promoting policies to localize the automotive industry in Egypt as a regional hub, and identifying potential circular economy opportunities, models, partners, and replication possibilities with other companies.
