Arab Contractors Company participated in the seventh meeting of the dialogue between technical cooperation agencies of the member countries of the Islamic Development Bank, which Cairo is hosting for the first time during the period from 6-8 September, where Dr. Badr Abdel Aaty - the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Egyptians Abroad, delivered the opening speech of the meeting, with the participation of a number of ministers, officials and representatives of technical cooperation agencies and financing and development institutions in the member countries. Participating in the meeting from the Egyptian side were Eng. Ibrahim Mahlab - former Prime Minister and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian Agency for Partnership for Development, and Ambassador Nermin El Zawahiri - Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and Secretary-General of the Egyptian Agency for Partnership for Development. On behalf of Arab Contractors Company, Dr. Eng. Ahmed El Adalany - Board Member, Eng. Lubna Shatla – Manager of Business Development, Strategic Studies and Marketing Department, and Eng. Ahmed Al Deeb – Manager of Technical Support Department for Branches, Departments and Independent Companies, participated in the meeting. Arab Contractors’ participation in the meeting comes in light of its extensive experience in implementing infrastructure and development projects in Egypt, Arab and African countries. In his speech, Dr. Badr Abdel Aaty -Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Egyptians Abroad, expressed his appreciation for the Islamic Development Bank’s confidence in Cairo hosting the meeting for the first time, stressing the importance of the meeting in promoting dialogue and the exchange of experiences between technical cooperation agencies in member countries and enhancing cooperation among them, noting that the role of development partners goes beyond providing financing to include the transfer of experiences and knowledge, capacity building and the stimulation of investments, which contributes to supporting development efforts, enhancing South-South cooperation and maximizing the impact of technical cooperation. Eng. Ibrahim Mahlab - former Prime Minister and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Egyptian Agency for Partnership for Development, expressed his pleasure at participating in the meeting, thanking the Islamic Development Bank for its contributions to supporting the development process, stressing that true development is based on knowledge, experience, capacity building, technology transfer and mutual trust. Eng. Ibrahim Mahlab also reviewed a number of visions for developing the cooperation system during the next stage, most notably maximizing the impact of projects and measuring their results, building sustainable knowledge partnerships, and providing a greater role for youth in the technical cooperation system. During his speech, he cited his experience during his chairmanship of the Arab Contractors Company, and what the company’s projects witnessed in terms of the work of teams that included engineers and specialists of different nationalities, which embodied a practical model for building capacities, exchanging experiences, and achieving development and partnership between countries. On the other hand, the Foreign Minister inspected the “Egyptian Development Exhibition” held with the participation of Arab Contractors on the sidelines of the meeting, which is a platform to showcase Egyptian development experiences and solutions and to link needs with expertise and financing, thus opening the way for new partnerships between various governmental and private entities and development institutions. The meeting also witnessed the signing of two memoranda of understanding between the Egyptian Agency for Partnership for Development and its counterparts in Guinea and Tunisia, to enhance trilateral cooperation in the areas of technical cooperation, exchange of experiences and capacity building.