Dr. Dahlia El-Hawary, GAFI Deputy CEO for Institutional Development, Policies, and Economic Performance, participated in the session of “Environmental and Climate Investment from a Financial Perspective" within the events of the “Egypt's first Environmental and Climate Investment Forum", which was held under the patronage of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and in the presence of the Prime Minister. The Forum was organized by Ministry of Environment in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and with the support of the Swiss government.
The session was attended by Dr. Yasmine Fouad, Minister of Environment, Mr. Hisham Okasha, Chairman of the BoD of the National Bank of Egypt, Ms. Catia Garcia Kilory, Financial Specialist at the World Bank, Mr. Khaled Hamza, Director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Office in Egypt, and Mr. Guido Clary, Head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Regional Hub for North Africa and the Middle East.
Dr. El-Hawary's participation focused on the procedures, legislation and institutional measures implemented by the Egyptian government through its various entities; among which is GAFI, in order to create a favorable environment to attract local and foreign investments, and achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and climate action in Egypt. Such procedures, legislation and institutional measures began with launching Egypt's Vision 2030 in 2016, which emphasized the inclusion of the environmental aspect and sustainable development in the national development policy frameworks. This was followed by the development of a number of plans and strategies, including the National Climate Change Strategy 2050, and the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change, as well as a number of sectoral strategies and plans, including the national green hydrogen strategy, and the Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy 2035 (ISES 2035).
In addition, Dr. Dahlia El-Hawary referred to the establishment of a number of specialized councils, on top of which is the Supreme Council for Investment, which the President of the Republic decreed to be restructured and chaired by His Excellency. She also mentioned the 22 decrees issued in the first meeting of the Council, which would bring about a qualitative leap in the investment climate in Egypt, and the most notable of which is the adoption of an incentives package in the clean energy sector. The government has already granted the Golden License to 22 projects in several sectors, including four projects in the green economy sector.
