- New partnership with Egypt as critical Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA) partner to fast-track industrial decarbonisation and support clean industrial growth
By : Islam Tawfik
The Industrial Transition Accelerator (ITA)announced a new partnership with Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) under the Arab Republic of Egypt’s Ministry of Industry toacceleratecritical clean industrial projects in the region.
The signing of the partnership agreement was attended by His Excellency Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and ITA Co-Chair of the Industrial Transition Accelerator, His Excellency Lieutenant General Engineer Kamel Al-Wazir, Deputy Prime Minister for Industrial Development and Minister of Industry and Transport in Egypt, and His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade in the UAE. The agreement was signed by His ExcellencyOmar Suwaina Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology of the UAE, on behalf of the ITA, and Duaa Salima, Executive Director of the IMC on behalf of Egypt.
His Excellency Omar Suwaina Al Suwaidi said:“The MENA region has a unique opportunity to become a world leader in sustainable industries, driven by a rapidly expanding industrial sector and abundant human and natural resources. The ITA’s new partnership with Egypt marks the beginning of an exciting chapter, where we can strengthen regional cooperation toadvance industrial sustainability, and reduce carbon emissions. Lastly, to benefit from advanced technologies in developing innovative solutions to achieve sustainable goals while enhancing industrial competitiveness.”
He added:“The ITA is a strategic necessity for building a resilient industrial ecosystem that aligns with future global trends. It works to enable industries to adopt practices and technologies that minimize environmental impact while improving productivity. At the Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology of the UAE, weare committed to accelerating the deployment of innovative solutions for industrial decarbonization to ensure the region’s readiness for a sustainable industrial future.”
The ITA aims to bring together leadership across industry, finance and governments to accelerate decarbonisation in key high-emitting industries on both the regional and international levels for the aluminium, cement, chemicals, steel, aviation and shipping sectors. The partnership will expand and support essential green industrial projects across the MENA region, marking a major step forward in reducing the industrial sector’s carbon footprint. Egypt’s inclusionin the initiative marksa significant milestone, making it the third country to join the ITA’s MENA Programme, following the UAE and The Kingdom of Bahrain.
Egypt isa key industrial hub in the MENA region and is contributing to the global shift toward sustainable industry, given its strategic location and access to conventional and renewable energy sources. The industrial sector in Egypt inputs significantly to the national economy and its national industrial strategy aims to contribute to the GDP from 14% to 20% by 2030 and green economy’s share to 5%. of GDPand will have a critical role in green economic development. With the support that Egypt will receive as part of the ITA’s MENA programme, Egypt has the opportunity to become a critical supplier within the MENA region for Europe’s demand for low-carbon commodities.
Duaa Salima, Executive Director of the IMC, welcomed the signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which underpins the new partnership and aims to foster co-operation in reducing carbon emissions from the heavy-emitting industry and transport sectors that are the focus of the ITA’s work, as well as to facilitate the exchange of technical knowledge, advice, skills, and expertise through the ITA.
Ms. Salima stated that the MoU seeks to provide comprehensive support for a range of carbon emissions reduction projects in the heavy-emitting industry and transport sectors, helping to accelerate the path to a final investment decision. She emphasised that this partnership highlights the need for government support to enhance collaboration, streamline processes, and ensure alignment with national emissions reduction targets.
The ITA, in collaboration with the UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology(MoIAT),will identify and support major industrial projects, fast-tracking final investment decisions over the next two years to become operational before 2030. These efforts support the climate objectives set forth under the Paris Agreement.
“This partnership with Egypt builds on the growing momentum of ITA’s MENA Programme. With its established energy infrastructure, growing renewable energy capacity, and close trade ties to the EU, Egypt is well-positioned to become a leader in supplying low-carbon industrial goods,” saidFaustine Delasalle, Executive Director of the ITA.
The ITA has established a successful country partnership model, working with governments, project developers and local organisations to provide bespoke and targeted support that progresses a portfolio of green industrial products in heavy-emitting industrial and transport sectors to become financed. In 2024, the ITA launched Project Support Programmes in partnership with the government of Brazil and in the MENA region with the governments of the UAE and Bahrain. So far, these programmes have identified a pipeline of more than 45 projects,representing investment opportunities of over USD100 billion.
The ITA will provide specialized support to ensure the successful execution of projects, accelerating decarbonization efforts across the MENA region. The initiative will work closely with project developers to identify and overcome key barriers, including stimulating demand for green products through regulatory and policy alignment at the regional level, developing low-emission value chains to support sustainable industrial production, and establishing risk mitigation mechanisms to encourage investment in regional industrial decarbonization projects.
