Dr. Mohamed Maait, the Egyptian Minister of Finance, affirmed the Egyptian government's keenness to explore the Asian financial market to diversify sources of funding and leverage opportunities available in those markets, contributing to maximising efforts to reduce financing costs.

During a panel discussion today at his participation in the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, Maait stated, "We are expanding our green, sustainable, and low-cost blue financing, with the aim of directing it towards funding projects in sustainable public transportation, health, education, agriculture, food, and other socially impactful projects."

He highlighted Egypt's strategy in diversifying funding sources and international markets, citing the issuance of the first green sovereign bonds in the Middle East and North Africa. Egypt issued sustainable "Panda bond'' in the Chinese capital market and successfully returned to the Japanese markets by executing the second international issuance of "Samurai" bonds. This approach attracts new segments of investors, contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals.

He pointed out the role of international multilateral institutions in addressing the financial challenges resulting from global economic crises.

He emphasised the need to explore innovative and facilitative financing solutions that are more suitable for the current stage, considering the intense pressures on the budgets of various countries to provide essential needs for their citizens in the face of rising prices and the difficulty of accessing international markets.

The Egyptian Minister of Finance stated that his country seeks to deepen cooperation with partners in Asian countries to attract more investors to Egypt, which possesses promising economic opportunities and competitive advantages, qualifying it to become a global hub for production and re-export.