Rania Al-Mashat '95 is Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation
Egypt's Minister of International Cooperation Rania Al-Mashat '95 is beginning a new phase in her mission of public service to Egypt, after heading the Ministry of Tourism for the past two years.
Driven by a sense of responsibility to give back to her country, Al-Mashat said on her Instagram and LinkedIn accounts:
"When you choose public office, you serve where needed. At the outset of taking over the Ministry of Tourism in January 2018, I committed to changing the narrative on #Egypt's tourism sector and advancing its frontiers. As I embark on a new challenge, I refer to a quote in my chapter published in the book, Daughters of the Nile: Egyptian Women Changing their World (December 2016): “Serving Egypt by contributing to policies that would make the richness of the Nile flow to all its citizens is not only a mission, it's a passion." She added, “ I look forward to designing and implementing policies in another portfolio along my journey of public service.”
The first woman to head the Ministry of Tourism since its establishment 60 years ago and the youngest minister in Egypt when appointed in 2018, Al-Mashat will be credited for transparently launching a "comprehensive, coherent and consistent policy framework," the Egypt—Tourism Reform Program (E—TRP), designed to unleash the potential of Egypt’s tourism sector through implementing structural reforms. Consequently, tourism has become one of Egypt’s fastest growing sectors, witnessing an unprecedented rebound, with revenues growing annually by 28 percent to record $12.6 billion in FY2018/2109 — the highest in the country’s history — and $4.2 billion in FY 2019/2020.
Al-Mashat has been recognized internationally for her relentless efforts and outstanding contributions to the tourism sector, both domestically and globally. She received the 2019 World Travel & Tourism Council Champion Award for Resilience, demonstrating strong leadership and pioneering public policies and initiatives that have increased the competitiveness of the sector, leading it through a successful recovery from adverse events. Minister Al-Mashat also received the World Travel Market's 2019 Global Leaders Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Industry on behalf of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism. The award recognized Egypt's Ministry of Tourism as the one that has contributed the most to the global travel and tourism industry over the last two years. This marks the first time for Egypt to receive these awards.
