Egypt is a priority partner country in German development cooperation and is one of the largest recipients of our development assistance. After the USA and together with the World Bank, the EU and Japan, Germany is Egypt's leading development cooperation partner. Aggregate German commitments since 1963 amount to about EUR 4.7 billion.
Up until 2003, Egypt received more than EUR 3.2 billion from the EU, about 27% contributed by Germany. This makes Egypt the largest recipient of development assistance from the EU in the Mediterranean.
The following priority areas in bilateral cooperation have been agreed with the Egyptian government:
- Water
Drinking water supply and sewage/wastewater disposal; irrigation and drainage in agriculture
- Environment and natural resources
Renewable energies (windpower and hydropower); industrial environmental protection and thermal power stations; waste management
- Social market economy
Small and medium-sized industry; vocational and technical education
A particularly innovative approach of German development cooperation is the promotion of renewable energies (primarily windpower in the Zafarana windpark at the Red Sea). At the Bonn international conference for renewable energies in June 2004, Egypt pledged to generate 14% of its energy needs from renewables by 2020.
One of the most successful areas of cooperation to date has been the introduction of dual vocational and technical education under the Mubarak-Kohl initiative. Since 1994, over 14,500 young people have been trained in 29 trades with the active involvement of local enterprises. Today, training courses under the initiative are run in almost all governorates from Upper Egypt to the Nile Delta, in rural areas and towns, in the industrial sector as well in hotelliery and hospitals.
The German-Egyptian intergovernmental negotiations on development cooperation were successfully completed on 6 December 2004 with the signing of the final protocol. The German government pledged Egypt new funds for joint projects amounting to EUR 79.5 million. Another EUR 30 million will be provided for development programmes through debt rescheduling. The funds totalling EUR 109.5 million will be used for irrigation projects and waste disposal in Qena and Kafr El Sheikh and for programmes to support small and medium-sized enterprises, build primary schools and promote renewable energies.
The next intergovernmental negotiations in development cooperation between Germany and Egypt will be held in Cairo in April 2006.
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