Egypt to join Brics’ development bank in coming weeks

Egypt is looking to join the New Development Bank (NDB), established by the Brics countries, to improve cooperation in infrastructure and sustainable development, Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported, citing a statement from the Egyptian finance ministry.

The Egyptian parliament will officially discuss the final procedures to join the bank in the coming weeks.

Brics is a global economic bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Egyptian finance minister Mohamed Maait confirmed his country’s eagerness to enhance cooperation with international development partners.

He expected this would lay the foundations of comprehensive and sustainable development, provide investment and development opportunities and improve the quality of public services.

During his meeting with the NDB president Marcos Troyjo, the minister added that Egypt looks forward to building a partnership with the bank to help the country meet its financing needs and maximise its efforts to develop infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Troyjo stated that the bank wants to jointly advance on key sustainable development issues across emerging economies, including climate action.

At the Brics summit in Brazil in 2014, the countries agreed to establish a development bank and adopt a treaty to set up an emergency reserve for the group, which now stands at $200 billion.