Cairo - Mubasher: The Egyptian Ministry of International Cooperation has penned three agreements worth around $885 million with Arab funds during the January-August period, the Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al-Mashat, announced on Tuesday.

The agreements aim to fund the Sinai Peninsula development programme, support structural reform, raise the efficiency of the government's public finance management, strengthen the capacity of the Egyptian Ministry of Health amid coronavirus (COVID-19).

Al-Mashat referred that these agreements were signed within the framework of the ministry's ‘Global Partnerships for Effective Development’.

One of the agreements was reached with the Arab Monetary Fund at a total value of $637.9 million to raise the efficiency of public financial management, as part of the economic reform programme applied since 2016.

The minister further remarked that a strategic partnership worth KWD 75 million ($243.2 million) was signed with the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD).

Through this agreement, the ministry has sought to implement a project, valued at $1 billion, to set up a water system for Bahr El-Baqar drainage system, as part of the Sinai Peninsula development plan.

Previously, the ministry inked three agreements within the same framework, one of which is worth KWD 70 million ($238 million) with the AFESD and two agreements worth KWD 75 million ($255 million) with the Kuwait Fund for Development. 

Moreover, the Ministry of International Cooperation penned a KWD 1 million ($3.3 million) grant agreement with the AFESD to support the health sector in curbing COVID-19.

It is noteworthy to mention that to date, the total value of cooperation with Arab funds recorded $12.5 billion, including the Saudi Fund for Development and the Abu Dhabi Fund.