Egypt received a 19-million-dollar contribution from Japan for Abu Al-Rish Hospital.

Rania Al-Mashat, Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation, and Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Egypt's Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, signed an agreement with the Japanese Embassy and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to increase JICA's grant for the construction of Abu Al-Rish Children's Hospital's new outpatient clinic building to $19 million.

Japanese Ambassador Noki Masaki and personnel from the JICA office in Cairo were present during the signing. Al-Mashat lauded Egyptian-Japanese relations on the level of international cooperation and development financing, which has contributed over $28 million to the health sector since 2020, according to his address.

A $9 million grant for medical equipment to battle the coronavirus pandemic is included in the aforementioned number, as is a $19 million grant for the hospital structure. Al-Mashat emphasised the significance of Abul-Rish Hospital, which sees over 25,000 patients each month.

Despite the pandemic, Al-Mashat said that Japan and Egypt have reached a number of important agreements outside of the health sector, including a $236 million development financing agreement for the energy sector, and that her ministry is working to strengthen economic ties between Egypt and its development partners to help the country achieve its development goals. Taking steps toward reaching the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

Abdul Ghaffar, for his part, hailed the Japanese government and JICA for their support of the hospital, noting that the grant will help fund the construction of the outpatient clinic facility, medical gadgets and equipment, and training programmes for the hospital's nurses and doctors.

Increased funding for the hospital project will help to alleviate overcrowding and waiting lists, according to Abdel Ghaffar, who also expressed the Egyptian government's desire to improve health services and learn from Japanese experiences in the field.