São Paulo – The emphasis on social protection given by Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad at the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting was also part of the speeches of some Arab officials. Egypt’s Minister of Finance Mohamed Maait (pictured above) called for cooperation to support efforts in social protection, while Mohamed Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, talked about promoting financial inclusion.
Egypt and the UAE are not part of G20 but participated in the discussions in São Paulo as guests. The only Arab country that is part of the G20 group of the world’s most powerful countries is Saudi Arabia, whose delegation was headed by Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan.
According to UAE state news agency WAM, during the meeting, Al Hussaini highlighted the UAE’s commitment to promoting financial inclusion to reduce inequalities, especially through the launch of the Financial Infrastructure Transformation Program in 2023, building on the UAE’s regional leadership and long-standing membership in the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI). GPFI is an inclusive platform for all G20 countries, interested non-G20 countries and relevant stakeholders to carry forward work on financial inclusion.
The UAE minister went on to note challenges regarding the medium-term growth prospects and emphasized the important role that innovative instruments can play to scale up finance for development, including mechanisms such as green bonds and sukuk. The latter refers to sharia compliant bonds. The UAE has participated in previous G20 editions.
According to information made available by Egypt’s Ministry of Finance, during the meeting, Maait stated that developing countries are fighting on all fronts to meet the needs of citizens amid an intense wave of inflation and highlighted the urgent need for international cooperation during these challenging times. He explained how the Egyptian government implemented exceptional social protection measures since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, noted that emerging economies need the support of development banks, and that the countries should implement economic policy that take social protection into account.
On Thursday, minister Haddad said that Brazil’s presidency of the G20 will seek to discuss an internationally agreed backstop on taxation. Putting a floor to the effective tax rate paid by the super-rich require international cooperation, he said.
In his visit to São Paulo, Egypt’s Minister Mohamed Maait participated on Wednesday in a dinner held by the Arab-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) that was attended by ABCC CEO & secretary-general Tamer Mansour, Administrative vice president Daniel Hannun, and the commercial of Egypt in São Paulo, Nashwa Bakr.
Translation by Guilherme Miranda
