Cairo, 15 August 2017 - On Tuesday, the Ministry of State for Emigration and Egyptian Expatriate Affairs () launched a new initiative for developing a strategy for governing emigration and Egyptian expatriate affairs at a roundtable with the participation of several Egyptian officials.

The roundtable was chaired by H.E. Minister Nabila Makram Abdel Shahid and attended by one of the Parliamentarians representing Egyptians abroad, H.E. MP Ghada Agamy, as well as government officials from more than 15 ministries and governmental institutions. The roundtable was attended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Social Solidarity, Ministry of Trade and Investment, Ministry of Local Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Communities, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Planning and Administrative Reform, Ministry of Education and Technical Education, the Central Bank of Egypt, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, State Information Services, Central Authority for Public Mobilization and Statistics, and the National Council for Women.

H.E. Minister Abdel Shahid stated that “the Ministry aims at forming a team to develop a unified strategy for governing emigration and Egyptian expatriate affairs.” Assistant Minister Dr. Saber Soliman added that “the first draft is to be submitted within six months, and the policy to be announced within a year at the most.”

The UN Migration Agency (IOM) will support the development of the strategy with technical expertise and knowledge sharing from global best practices. In this respect, MoSEEA and IOM developed a training on expatriate engagement, planned to take place by the end September 2017, targeting officials from relevant ministries.

This initiative supports the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth, 10 Reduced Inequalities, and 17 Partnership for the Goals. It also supports the realization of Egypt’s Sustainable Development Strategy (SDS): Vision 2030, particularly the economic and education pillars.