United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCWA Executive Secretary Mohamed Ali Alhakim paid an official visit to Egypt on 22-24 August 2017 on top of a delegation comprising his Deputy for Program Support Khawla Mattar, ESCWA Secretary of the Commission Karim Khalil, Chief of Economic Governance and Planning Ahmed Kamaly and Team Assistant Zalfa Hobballah.
During his visit, the first of its kind to ESCWA member countries after he took functions at the helm of the Commission last May, the Executive Secretary met with Prime Minister Sherif Ismail; Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry; as well as with Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Wali; Minister of Electricity and Renewable Energy Mohamed Shaker; Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla; and Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform Hala Said.
The Executive Secretary’s visit also saw the signing of a technical cooperation framework between ESCWA, represented by Deputy Executive Secretary Mattar, and the Egyptian Government, represented by Assistant Foreign Minister for International Economic Relations Ambassador Ashraf Ibrahim. The technical cooperation framework determines the following strategic areas and cooperation priorities: Following up on the implementation of the Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs); developing pilot projects on women’s related issues, youth and population; economic development for policy-making; technical support in the field of Statistics; and scenarios relating to the Arab Customs Union (ACU) and its implications, as well as other subjects.