"Madbouly" reviews the advantages of digitization in economic growth... the highlights of today's newspapers

The Egyptian newspapers published this morning, Monday, dealt with many important topics and issues of local concern.

(Al-Ahram) newspaper highlighted the assertion of Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly that Egypt is making its way to make a new history by transforming into a digital economy and a non-monetary society, pointing out that digital transformation is one of the comprehensive economic reform programs, which had a positive impact in mitigating the repercussions of the “Corona” pandemic. “The regularity of government work mechanisms, as well as achieving a positive growth rate of about 3.6% and 3.3% during the fiscal years 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, respectively, and achieving a primary surplus of 1.5% of GDP during the last fiscal year.

This came during the speech delivered on his behalf by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mohamed Maait, before the first Al-Ahram Financial Technology Conference, which was held under the auspices of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers and the Central Bank of Egypt, in the presence of Eng. Al-Ahram Foundation, journalist Alaa Thabet, editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram, and leaders of banks, companies, and financial institutions.

Maait explained that the Ministry of Finance has worked to implement the directives of the National Payments Council headed by the President of the Republic, by relying on a payment system with a national brand “Maeza” that achieves many advantages and maximum levels of insurance, and starting from 2021, 4.1 million payment cards were issued for the dues of state workers.

Tariq Amer, Governor of the Central Bank, stressed that financial technology has enabled us to turn challenges into opportunities, and banks have been directed to expand the provision of more digital banking services.

In a speech delivered by Engineer Ayman Hussein, the Central Bank's first deputy governor for the information technology sector, he added that this matter had a great impact in increasing the banking sector's ability to respond to the requirements of the Corona pandemic, as more than one billion electronic transactions worth 2.8 trillion Egyptian pounds were implemented during the year. the past.

He explained that Egypt witnessed a significant increase in payment tools and electronic means of acceptance, noting the increase in the number of bank cards to 54 million cards, of which 22 million are “advantage” cards, and mobile phone wallets have reached more than 25 million wallets, in addition to the deployment of 740 thousand electronic points of sale. And more than 18,500 ATMs to various parts of the Republic.

Al-Gomhouria newspaper highlighted that the launching events of the joint country strategy between Egypt and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the period 2022-2027, witnessed the signing of two memoranda of understanding in the field of green hydrogen and tourism, and an agreement to inaugurate the Alexandria metro, which comes within the framework of the state's determination to implement the transformation Green through innovative strategies, increased investment in human capital, and the transition to a sustainable and green transport sector as part of the country’s 2050 climate action strategy.

During the events, the Ministry of International Cooperation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed a development financing agreement worth 250 million euros for the implementation of the Alexandria Metro project, which aims to develop and supply the existing Abu Qir railway linking downtown Alexandria with Abu Qir area, northeast of the governorate. Electricity to become a highly efficient metro system.

The Ministries of Electricity and Petroleum also signed with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a Memorandum of Understanding on assessing the prospects of a low carbon hydrogen economy in Egypt. This technical support aims to understand the technical, economic and regulatory feasibility of developing hydrogen supply chains in the context of the economy.

In another context, the Ministry of Tourism, the Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Tourism and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in establishing the Tourism Sector Skills Council in Egypt, through which the bank will provide technical support with the aim of establishing a skills council that trains young men and women to identify the skills required in The labor market, the development of qualification frameworks, and the provision of training in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Engineer Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, stressed that the Egyptian state has attached great importance to the transition to clean energy and the green economy, explaining that the implementation of expansion programs using natural gas as a clean fuel was an important starting point towards energy transformation and emissions reduction, as the consumption of natural gas in Egypt increases steadily to reach More than 65% of its consumption is from hydrocarbon or conventional fuels.

Sameh Shoukry, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eng. Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, and Dr. Rania Al-Mashat, Minister of Cooperation witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Ministries of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Electricity and Renewable Energy with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to assess the economics of low-carbon hydrogen in Egypt. El-Molla stressed that signing this memorandum is a vital step towards benefiting from the hydrogen opportunities in Egypt, which require extensive cooperation and studies with the help of major international institutions.

Rania Al-Mashat stressed that the coming period will witness more areas of cooperation with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development within the framework of the new strategy for the period 2022-2027, to meet the state's development priorities and the strategies it implements to advance all sectors, based on the state's strategy for climate action 2050.

Dr. Mohamed Shaker, Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy, said that the National Sustainable Energy Strategy is a long-term plan that aims to diversify the energy mix from renewable sources to reach 42% by 2035.