Egypt and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Thursday signed six financing agreements worth 90 million dollars to implement priority development projects in the sectors of basic education, higher education, scientific research, science and technology, health, agriculture, trade and investment.
The first agreement aims to inject $15 million into the basic education sector, improve student skills and train teachers, while the second agreement provides $30 million to the Egyptian-American Initiative for Higher Education to create a skilled workforce that meets the needs of the labour market and to strengthen the institutional capacity of Egyptian higher education institutions.
As for the third agreement, it consists of $4 million to support the field of science and technology, to expand the scope of relations between the scientific and technological communities between the two countries, and to promote cooperation for peaceful purposes.
The fourth provides $4.4 million for agricultural and rural development to increase income and employment opportunities in agricultural enterprises in Upper Egypt, Greater Cairo and the Nile Delta.
As for the fifth agreement, in the amount of $10 million, it is intended to improve the health sector by strengthening Egypt’s family planning and reproductive health programme.
Finally, the sixth agreement provides for $26.5 million to stimulate trade and investment with the aim of achieving economic growth, improving labour productivity and increasing the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.
USAID’s cooperation portfolio in Egypt has totaled more than $30 billion since 1978, covering various sectors including health, population and education, while the portfolio of projects underway since 2014 is nearly $1 billion.
HA/lb/abj/APA