International Conference on “Governance and Sustainable Development” organized by the Institute of National Planning

By Fathy Elsayeh

• Hala El-Said: The Egyptian state made a great progress in implementing the planned reforms and exerted serious efforts over the past eight years.
• Ashraf El-Araby: The conference represents a pioneering initiative by the Institute for active contribution to global and regional dialogue on the relationship between governance and sustainable development.
• Hermann Thiel: USAID Economic Governance Activity is collaborating with the government of Egypt to achieve its national goals that are evident in Egypt’s 2030 Vision, the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, and the Administrative Reform Vision of Egypt.
• Khaled Zakaria Amin: The conference ensures the role of scientific conferences and academic communities in influencing policy formulation and decision-making.

Cairo, June 3, 2023 – The International Conference on “Governance and Sustainable Development” organized by the Institute of National Planning in collaboration with the Economic Governance Project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University has started today. The conference is being held in Cairo on June 3-4.
The opening session of the conference began with welcoming remarks by Prof. Khaled Zakaria Amin, Advisor to the Minister of Planning for Policies and Structural Reforms and Chair of the Academic Committee of the Conference, who said: “It is my pleasure to participate in the opening of the International Conference on Governance and Sustainable Development organized by the Institute of National Planning. This conference is an extension of the Institute’s approach over the past few years, starting in 2017, to hold a series of conferences that link sustainable development with a number of core issues such as quality education, manufacturing, agriculture, digital economy, and climate change. This conference combines academic sessions to discuss scientific research papers by participating expert professors, and a number of discussion sessions in which decision-makers and specialists discuss the issues raised by the conference as a way to enhance the role of scientific conferences in influencing policy formulation and decision-making.”
Then came the speech of Prof. Lisa Anderson, Professor Emeritus at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, and former President of the American University in Cairo, who said: “It is always a pleasure to be in Egypt and I congratulate everyone on this distinguished gathering. The conference provides us with a great opportunity to have very productive discussions, bringing together academics and practitioners who are already working in this field, thus opening the way for a practical evaluation of academic theories and research, while highlighting the latest developments in scientific and academic research. Certainly, this collaboration will result in further successes on the ground.”
Following this, Mr. Hermann Thiel, Chief of the USAID funded Economic Governance Activity, said “I am honored to be part of the Economic Governance Activity team, and to collaborate with the Institute of National Planning and the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in this high-level conference. We designed the Economic Governance Activity with three objectives in mind: the first is to support the Egyptian government in enhancing economic governance through reforms, the second is to build the capacities of government institutions and employees, and the third is to adopt the most efficient and inclusive models for delivering public services. These three objectives align with the goals of the Egyptian government as stated in Egypt’s Vision 2030, the National Strategy to Combat Corruption, and the Administrative Reform Vision of Egypt.”
Next, Prof. Ashraf El-Araby, President of the Institute of National Planning (INP), said, “The conference represents a pioneering initiative by the Institute to actively contribute to the global and regional dialogue on activating the role of governance in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2030. The conference will undoubtedly provide practical lessons and experiences to support sustainable development in general and economic development in particular. The conference presents deep analysis of experiences in external debt governance and corporate governance in the Egyptian experience, and many comparable global and regional experiences.”
Finally, Prof. Khaled Zakaria Amin, delivered a speech on behalf of H.E Dr. Hala El Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, through which she expressed her happiness for the fruitful cooperation and partnership with international organizations, academia, and think tanks. According to the ministry, the world is facing many unprecedented economic challenges and changes. While the global economy has not fully recovered from the repercussions of the COVID-19 virus, the Russian-Ukrainian crisis emerged, and the global economy began to historically experience high inflation rates at the beginning of last year. The Minister added, “Egypt is not isolated from all of these changes, as it suffers like other countries in the world from regional and international challenges. However, these challenges reasonably impacted Egypt, as the Egyptian state has made significant progress in the reforms and serious efforts over the last eight years to achieve comprehensive and sustainable development, through launching Egypt’s Vision 2030 in February 2016 and updating it recently in line with international and local developments.”
The Minister stressed, “Despite the challenges facing Egypt and the world, the fruits of the development efforts and initiatives implemented by the state in recent years have been manifested in a number of positive indicators, including achieving a growth rate that exceeded 5% in some years and even reached 6.6% in the fiscal year 2021/2022, which is the highest growth rate since 2008, before it declined slightly in the first half of this year 2022/2023, to reach 4.2% as a result of the geopolitical changes and crises the world is witnessing. Unemployment rates also decreased to about 7.1% in the first quarter of 2023.”
The conference will discuss the role of governance in supporting sustainable development on three main axes, the economic axis, which primarily focuses on the impact of governance on economic growth and employment rates, the social axis to reveal the positive impact of governance on reducing poverty and improving the effectiveness of various social protection programs, and the environmental axis, which addresses how to enhance the government’s response to the effects of climate change and various environmental challenges in a way that positively reflects on future generations.