24 January 2008....

Foreign Minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, inaugurated the second preliminary meeting of the Development Cooperation Forum, which was held in Cairo on January the 19^th, and 20^th under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council. The meeting was attended by UN Deputy Secretary General, Asha-Rose, Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Head of the UN Economic and Social Council and the Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Social affairs at the UN, as well as  Minister of Planning and Economy in Tanzania, Minister of Finance in Eritrea, as well as various parties concerned with development and international assistance, including representatives of the donor and receiving countries, the UN, the international financial institutions and representatives of civil society and banking sector. The meeting was held to discuss assistance conditionalties, the importance of increase its efficiency, and the South-South cooperation and trilateral cooperation.

Egypt's stance on the issues on the agenda was well reflected in  the Aboul Gheit's speech at the inauguration of the meeting, where the Foreign Minister outlined that Egypt mobilizes  all its available potentials in order to boost the role of the UN, its funds and its programmes. Egypt's concern with issues of development cooperation is emphasized in holding the second preliminary meeting of Development Cooperation Forum in Cairo, and the choice of Egypt as the regional quarters for a number of UN funds and programmes. The Minister affirmed that the South-South cooperation is not an alternative to the North-South cooperation, but it is integral to it, and that Egypt has a long history in supporting the South-South cooperation through the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with Africa and the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with the Commonwealth and the recently independent states. Aboul Gheit also tackled Egypt's rejection to all forms of conditionalities, be them political or economic, and stressed the necessity that the developed countries achieve its commitments of increasing the assistance and its effectiveness. Furthermore, he pointed out that Egypt has achieved unique economic achievements, which made the World Bank put it in the first rank at the list of the countries which have undergone economic achievements.

The meeting is a key event in preparation for the First Development Cooperation Forum, scheduled to be held in New York in July 2008.