Hassan Abdalla, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), met on Thursday at the bank's headquarters with Ary Naïm, Director for North Africa and the Horn of Africa at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and his accompanying delegation, to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and consolidate the IFC's contribution to supporting the Egyptian economy.

The IFC delegation included Gökhan Kont, Director of the Financial Institutions Group for Africa; Nivan Mortaji, Regional Head of Operations for Financial Institutions in Africa; and Saad Sabra, Head of the IFC's office in Egypt.

At the start of the meeting, the Governor congratulated Ary Naïm on taking up his new post in Cairo, underscoring the strategic and historic partnership between Egypt and the IFC and the pivotal role the corporation plays.

The meeting covered a number of issues of mutual interest, with a particular focus on supporting the development of Egypt's infrastructure sector and on ways to encourage the private sector to invest more and play a bigger part in delivering strategic projects.

The meeting also addressed the IFC's anticipated role in Egypt's state asset offering programme, including opportunities to help mobilise international capital and attract more foreign investment into the Egyptian market.

At the close of the meeting, both sides affirmed their shared commitment to supporting sustainable economic development, enhancing investment opportunities and creating an environment conducive to private sector-led growth.