The Egyptian Minister of Finance, Mohamed Maait, announced that Egypt aims to issue blue, social, sustainable and green bonds in local currencies of the member states of the New Development Bank (NDB). This came in the Maait’s meeting with Vladimir Kazbekov, Vice President of the NDB.

NDB’s state members include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates and Egypt. This is Kazbekov’s and his accompanying delegation first high-level official visit to Egypt following Egypt’s official entry to the bank last year. Egypt officially joined the membership of the NDB in March 2023.

During the meeting, the finance minister indicated that Egypt is looking forward to holding joint and sustainable discussions on strategies to enhance economic development. He stressed on the government’s keenness to remain consistent with the plans of the New Development Bank to expand its activities in Egypt and explore promising investment opportunities providing soft development financing to the private sector.

Kazbekov also met with the Minister of International Cooperation, Rania Al Mashat, during the meeting they discussed strengthening integration between the NDB and multilateral development partners to support development efforts in Egypt.

They also discussed cooperation opportunities to promote green and fair financing and support Egypt’s efforts to increase investment in human capital, transition to a green economy, and implement sustainable and green development projects, as well as the Nexus of Water, Food, and Energy Program (NWFE) program.