Egypt has officially become the newest member of the New Development Bank (NDP), the international development bank of the BRICS organization.
BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) established the NDB in 2014 to support sustainable development projects and enhance regional cooperation and integration by providing investments to BRICS member states and other emerging economies. (Related: BRICS nations moving rapidly to circumvent the US dollar as the World Reserve Currency.)
Egypt is just the fourth country outside of BRICS to be a member of NDP, after Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay. Egypt has also expressed interest in becoming a full-fledged member of BRICS. The country is now preparing to apply for membership, BRICS International Forum President Purnima Anand earlier said.
Egypt's entry into the NDP was approved by the country's cabinet during a meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 7, chaired by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. He and the cabinet approved a draft decision by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi establishing Egypt's accession to the NDB.
"The cabinet approved a draft decision of the President of the Republic on the ratification of the agreement establishing the new BRICS group development bank and the document of Egypt's accession to the bank," said the government in a statement.
Egyptian Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait affirmed his country's desire to join the NDB and to cooperate with international development partners, especially in light of the "unprecedented development movement" Cairo was witnessing.
"Egypt is a firm believer and supporter of multilateralism. The NDB has established itself as one of the premier multilateral development banks for emerging markets and developing countries," said Maait.
"We are delighted to welcome Egypt into NDB's family. We look forward to supporting its investment needs in infrastructure and sustainable development," said NDB President Marcos Troyjo.
Egypt accession to NDB presents country with new economic opportunities
The NDB works to provide member nations with support for sustainable development projects, especially infrastructure projects in energy, transportation, water and communication. The bank also provides financial support for nations looking to strengthen their health and social infrastructure sectors and has recently been working on building infrastructure for digital finance in response to the negative economic effects resulting from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdowns.
Since the bank's founding, the NDB has provided over $30 billion in financing to about 80 projects.
Maait noted that the NDB has strong financing capabilities and relevant expertise that will be beneficial for Egypt, which needs help financing and enhancing its efforts to upgrade its infrastructure base for achieving goals for comprehensive development.
"The NDB is a new platform for Egypt to enhance cooperation with BRICS countries and other emerging economies and developing countries in the field of infrastructure and sustainable development," said Maait.
He added that Egypt is also willing to provide the bank with promising investment and development opportunities in various sectors that serve development goals, contributing to improving standards of living, improving the quality of public services and meeting Egypt's other development needs.
Deputy Minister of Finance for Fiscal Policies Ahmed Kjok said the ministry is keen on diversifying its sources of funding to reduce the cost of financing needs of development projects in order to preserve the gains of economic reform and to maintain a safe economic path. He added that joining the NDB is in accordance with the country's sustainable development goals.
Learn more about BRICS at CurrencyReset.news.
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