Egypt's Planning Minister Ahmed Rustom meets World Bank, Islamic Development Bank on data‑driven reforms

Egypt's Minister of Planning and Economic Development, Dr. Ahmed Rustom, held a meeting with a senior World Bank delegation that included Sandip Mahajan, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, and Stephan Gimbart, the bank’s regional manager for Egypt, Yemen and Djibouti. The talks focused on strengthening cooperation in economic analysis, evidence‑based policy making and the use of national surveys and databases that supported crisis management during the COVID‑19 pandemic. Rustom highlighted Egypt’s effort to compile a unified long‑term data index covering labor markets, household income, fiscal statistics and enterprise surveys, and announced the upcoming completion of Vision 2030 and the drafting of Vision 2040, as well as a multi‑year economic program that will use growth ranges to reflect uncertainty.

In a separate meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan, Rustom met with Dr. Mohammed Bin Suleiman Al Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank, to discuss a future partnership strategy and innovative financing mechanisms. The discussion covered result‑based financing (RBF), sector‑development financing (SDF), a joint annual work programme worth $1.5 billion for 2026, and a proposed national guarantee mechanism to mobilise long‑term local‑currency funding for infrastructure projects. Rustom also outlined plans to create production clusters, boost private‑sector investment and integrate the new financing tools into Egypt’s broader development agenda.