Egypt, Switzerland launch CHF60m cooperation programme for 2025–2028
Egypt and Switzerland on Sunday launched a new four-year cooperation programme worth 60 million Swiss francs ($74.5 million) to deepen ties in green economic development, migration, and governance, the Egyptian planning ministry said in a statement.
The programme, covering 2025–2028, was announced during a ceremony in Cairo attended by Minister Rania Al-Mashat and Patricia Danzi, Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).
Swiss Ambassador to Egypt Andreas Baum and senior officials from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Swiss State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) also attended.
The programme is the fourth cooperation framework between Egypt and Switzerland since 2012 and builds on more than 45 years of partnership, aiming to advance sustainable development, create economic opportunities, and strengthen institutional capacity in Egypt.
“Switzerland and Egypt have built a partnership based on trust, shared values, and mutual respect,” Ambassador Baum said. “With this new cooperation programme, we are not starting from scratch—we are building on decades of joint work to protect lives, foster green growth, and strengthen good governance towards a more inclusive and sustainable future.”
Minister Al-Mashat said the new programme reflects Egypt’s drive to expand its partnership with Switzerland and attract more Swiss private investment, especially in manufacturing, clean energy, and digital industries.
She highlighted Egypt’s recent structural and economic reforms, which she said have improved the business environment and boosted private sector participation in growth, citing a 4.4 per cent GDP growth rate in the last fiscal year.
The government seeks to complete the path of economic reform and enhance the transformation in the structure of the Egyptian economy towards sectors with higher productivity, Al-Mashat said. She noted that the cooperation programme aligns with the government’s new Narrative for Economic Development.
The Swiss delegation praised Egypt’s recent cultural milestones, including the inauguration of the Grand Egyptian Museum, and underscored the country’s strategic role in promoting regional stability and sustainable growth.
Ambassador Danzi said the new programme is consistent with Switzerland’s Strategy for International Cooperation 2025–2028, which prioritises humanitarian aid, migration management, democracy, private sector development, and climate change.
The programme, she said, “aligns with the direction of Switzerland’s Strategy for International Cooperation 2025-2028, which takes into account the needs of local populations, Swiss value-added—expertise, innovation, experience—as well as long-term Swiss interests—peace, democracy, security.”
Both sides also discussed enhancing South-South and triangular cooperation, expanding Egyptian-European relations, and mobilising private-sector financing, which has reached about $16 billion since 2020, according to ministry figures.
Earlier this year, during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly and Swiss officials signed an Egyptian-Swiss Joint Economic Committee agreement to boost trade, investment, and private sector partnerships.
Attribution: Amwal Al Ghad English
Subediting: Y.Yasser